Cosmic Acres

Seed Ball Creation at Cosmic Acres

Seed balls consist of mixing one measure of seeds for next season's crop
with 3 measures of compost and 5 measures of red clay,
and sometimes manure then formed into small balls.
Much less seed is used than in conventional growing,
resulting in fewer plants which are smaller but stronger with a higher yield.
The technique is useful for seeding thin and compacted soils, and avoiding seed eaters.

It is an ancient technique that was re-introduced by Masanobu Fukuoka, an advocate of "natural farming".
The original seed ball may have been the "mud ball" created by aboriginal peoples.

The seed ball consists of natural living materials and are rolled by hand to produce natural shapes.
Gray riverbed clay is been used as opposed to red clay since it is naturally found in this area
and dissolves readily. The part ratios are all fibonacci numbers consistent with fractals in natural based on this number sequence.

1 part - fresh seed

3 parts - living compost

5 parts - dried riverbed clay

The seeds , the dried clay which is carefully ground using a smoothed riverbed stone,
and the rich compost are used as the materials for creating the seed balls. The materials
are mixed together in a ratio of 1:3:5 and moistened with water and rolled by hand to create the seed balls.
The shapes formed are very natural handmade shapes that combine the living life forces of
the seeds, compost, clay and spark of life energy from the rolling the mixture with pure thoughts
carefully in the hands until the seed balls are formed.

Masanobu Fukuoka Makes Seed Balls

Seed Ball Story