Activity #6: Seed Bombs

This week we have talked about many different types of Tudor gardens: scent, kitchen, herb, Tradescant, and sunken. We talked about pollinators moving pollen from plant to plant. What happens after the pollen is moved and before we see plants in our gardens? The plants have to make seeds!! This happens in the reproductive parts of a plant’s flower.

Once plants have created their seeds, they need to disperse (move) them. How are plant seeds dispersed, or moved, from flowers to the dirt where they can grow? There are several ways. Wind may cause seeds to float, glide or spin through the air. Some seedpods explode and throw seeds a good distance away from the plant. Sometime animals eat the seeds and then “plant them” when the seeds come out with the animal waste (poop).

Today seeds are planted by hand or with a machine, depending on the size of the garden or planting field. In Tudor England, many types of seeds were planted by hand. They were either carefully placed within small prepared holes or simply strewn, or thrown out by hand, over the plowed grounds. Grass and grain seeds could be dispersed by hand in this way. The servant doing this job was the “sower”, as he was sowing, or planting, the seeds for the crops.

Today’s supplies for Day 3, Activity #6 give you a chance to create another way to disperse seeds – a “seed bomb”!

Steps:

1. Roll a small 1 ½” ball of air-dry clay.

2. Flatten the ball out and add 1 teaspoon of potting soil.

3. Knead the soil into the clay.

4. Flatten the ball again and add approximately ¼ teaspoon seeds.

5. Knead the seeds into the clay.

6. Shape the clay back into a ball and let it dry.

7. When it is time to plant the bomb, simply toss it anywhere there is dirt. When it next rains, it will dissolve, and the seeds will begin to germinate and grow!! Keep a record of the plant growth in your field notebook.

*If you want to give this as a gift, wrap the bomb in the burlap circle and tie it with the ribbon. Let your gift recipient know how to plant the bomb, and make sure they know to remove the ribbon and burlap before planting – this is just for wrapping and won’t dissolve.

Activity sources: craftyourhappiness.com; juliemeasures.com