Seed balls, also known as "earth balls" or nendo dango and tsuchi dango ( in Japanese), consist of a variety of different seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s rolled within a ball of clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

, preferably volcanic plastic red clay. Into this medium various additives may be included, such as humus or compost

Compost

Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. Compost is a key ingredient in organic farming. At its most essential, the process of composting requires simply piling up waste outdoors and waiting for the materials to break down from anywhere...

. These are placed around the seeds, at the center of the ball, to provide microbial inoculants. Cotton-fibres or liquified paper are sometimes mixed into the clay in order to strengthen it, or liquified paper mash coated on the outside to further protect the clay ball during sowing by throwing, or in particularly harsh habitats.

The technique for creating seed balls was developed by Japanese natural farming

Natural farming

Natural farming is an ecological farming approach established by Masanobu Fukuoka , a Japanese farmer and philosopher who described his agricultural philosophy as in Japanese. It is also referred to as "the Fukuoka Method", "the natural way of farming" or "do-nothing farming"...

 pioneer Masanobu Fukuoka

Masanobu Fukuoka

was a Japanese farmer and philosopher celebrated for his natural farming and re-vegetation of desertified lands. He was a proponent of no-till, no-herbicide grain cultivation farming methods traditional to many indigenous cultures, from which he created a particular method of farming, commonly...

. Generally about 5 measures of red clay by volume are combined with one measure of seeds. The balls are formed between 10mm and 80mm (about 0.4 to 3.15 inches) in diameter.

Seed balls have use in nearly any region where plants can grow: for reseeding ecosystems into areas of man-made deserts, avoiding seed eating insects and animals and protecting seeds until rains fall to soak the clay ball and stimulate the seeds. Seeds contained in such balls then germinate in ideal conditions for each climate/region.

External links

• "What's a clay ball?" and "Clay Ball Method" advice derived directly from Fukuoka Masanobu by The RainMaker Project, a major project in Africa by Yokohama Art Project, Japanese NGO.
• Masanobu Fukuoka re-invented seedballs (in this era), this is his patent for advanced seedballs, titled "Paper/seed-unified planting seed unit and preparation process thereof"; There's his previous earlier Japanese patent for less advanced seedballs - where's that?
• Making Seed Balls, by Jim Bones, he learned personally from Fukuoka Masanobu and from his books.
• "Seed Balls by Masanobu Fukuoka 1997" YouTube 18:43 long video, caption: "Natural Farmer Masanobu Fukuoka conducts a workshop for making seed balls at his natural farm and forest in Japan."
• Making Hay with Clay - Greece
• The who, what, how of seedballs
• How to make seedballs
• 'On Seedballs', a website dedicated to seedballs
• Seed Bomb R&D forum come read and discuss about seed balls.