Planet Earth Seed Balls

How to Make

1. To make the paper mash you will need to rip or cut small strips of A4 paper and soak them overnight in warm (not scalding) water.
2. Make sure that you have enough paper in the bowl as it compacts significantly (almost by half the volume) when it is mashed.
3. Once this has soaked for enough time it will start to fall apart. You can encourage this by getting a fork or your hands in and rubbing the paper together until you get a mushy texture with no clear strips of paper left.
4. Squeeze the water out of the mash by putting it in the centre of a tea towel or muslin cloth, wrapping the cloth around it, and squeezing till all the water comes out.
5. Place the mash back in the bowl. Take a cup and mix one part flour to two parts water, enough to cover the mash you’ve just made and mix it in -this acts as an eco-friendly glue!
6. Sprinkle your seeds into the mash, you don’t want too many seeds in each ball as they will have to compete for resources, aim for no more than eight seeds in each ball.
7. Once you have mixed the seeds into the mash separate the mixture into two separate piles on a tray.
8. Add a small amount of blue and green coloured paint to each pile and mix in.
9. Take a small amount of each coloured mixture and squeeze it together in your hand, forcing out any excess water as you form the little planet earth themed seed balls.
10. Then place each ball on a dry tray.
11. Once they are completely dry, find some soil and scatter the seed balls. The paper mash will disintegrate with rainfall and the seeds will find their way to the soil and begin to germinate.
12. The seed balls can be stored up to six months in an airtight container.

Top Tip

Seed balls can be scattered at any time of the year, although spring and autumn is an optimal time to start wildflowers growing.