5-Minute Craft: Seed Bombs

I get giddy over hands-on workshops, and this year's Making Brooklyn Bloom day at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden definitely didn't disappoint. The highlight: guerilla greening. We learned how to turn clay, fertilizer, and seeds into seed bombs ready to be furtively thrown into blighted lots. Look out for some sunflowers sprouting up around Brooklyn this summer! Want to make your own? It's easy:

You'll need:

• air-dry clay
• compost (not potting soil or garden soil)
• seeds (ones that are native to your region are probably the most likely to grow)
• a tray or covered surface
• spray bottle filled with water
• a piece of newspaper

Make it:

1. Work the clay with your hands until it's soft. 
2. Hand-mix 1 part clay with 2 parts compost.
3. Pat the mixture out flat. Spritz with water.
4. Gently pack the seeds onto the flat mixture. 
5. Fold in half and roll into a ball. 
6. Allow the balls to dry fully on a piece of newspaper placed on a bright windowsill.
7. When dry, store in plastic bags in a cool, dark place.
8. Throw after the danger of last frost.

The idea of under-the-radar gardening has been around for decades. In the '70s, the fabulous "Green Guerillas" lobbed sprout-filled grenades into abandoned NYC lots. (These early versions were condoms stuffed with tomato seeds and fertilzer...insert "seed sowing" joke here.) And even before that, seed bombs were used in reforestation efforts to restore areas leveled by forest fires.

The topic even pops up in kids' books, like Miss Rumphius, a picture book by Barbara Cooney. This was one of my favorites. I loved how the willowy protagonist walked around misty cliffs with her pockets stuffed with seeds. She seemed really poetic--I didn't know she was a law-breaking eco badass, too!

There are definitely ethical questions to consider--ie, don't fling rogue seeds into people's gardens or public parks. But I think that the notion of split-second gardening is really exciting. If you use native plants or low-maintenance wildflowers, there's a good chance that you'll get something growing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some of my little guys can wrestle their way through the concrete and rock-hard soil and make our vacant lots just a little greener.