What Is It?     Pelleted seeds are enclosed in a layer of fine clay to protect them from insects and birds.  Beneficial micro-organisms, fertilizer, and seed protectants can also be included in the clay pellet as needed.  Pelleted seeds are ideal for no-till agriculture where crops are broadcast seeded into standing vegetation.  Pelleted seeds are also easier to drill or sow by hand because each pellet is large enough to space accurately.

How To Do It:     Use 1 part seeds + 7 parts finely powdered clay = 8 total parts by volume.  (12.5% seeds + 87.5% powdered clay = 100% by volume).  Any kind of sticky clay will work or use dry, powdered clay purchased in 50-pound bags from a pottery supplier.

If preparing clay from scratch, remove and save topsoil then dig clay from subsoil layers.  Wash or sift clay through window screening to remove impurities.  Dry clay then grind before use.  Ideal pelleting clay should be pure and dust-like, similar to wheat flour.

Place seeds in mixing barrel of 5 gallon = 20 liters or larger capacity.  Barrel should not have any paddles, beaters, blades, or other protrusions = inside surface must be smooth and free of all obstructions.  Rotate barrel by hand or machine (like a cement mixer).

Slowly, add fine water mist until seeds are barely damp.

Add dry clay alternately with water mist while revolving barrel continuously.

When pellets are twice the diameter of the seeds continue turning the barrel for 3 to 4 minutes only, just until pellets look glossy.

DO NOT OVER-ROTATE BARREL OR SEED PELLETS WILL STICK TOGETHER!

Gently pour seed pellets onto screens to dry in a well-ventilated place.

Store air dried seed pellets in waterproof containers in a dry place until needed.

Biological No-Till Small Grains:     Broadcast seed pellets by hand or use a rotary spreader.  Sow pellets directly into standing vegetation so that soil remains undisturbed.  (Broken soil stimulates weed germination).

Alternatively, drill pellets using a no-till seeder equipped with sharp coulters and chisel tines or cultivator blades to cut narrow slits in the soil.  (The goal is minimal disturbance of soil surface and plant cover).

Wait patiently until rains come and seeds germinate.

Do not use chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides on fields.  Do not weed by hand nor cultivate by machine.  Control weeds by sowing grain with Dutch White Clover (Trifolium repens) if necessary.  Irrigation is optional, but not essential.

2 to 4 weeks before harvest sow pelletized seed of second crop into standing vegetation of first crop.  This is necessary to control weeds.

When grain is threshed, return all straw and chaff to the field and spread randomly so following crop can grow up through the mulch.

Continue rotating grain crops taking special care to over-seed following crop 2 to 4 weeks before harvesting preceding crop.

This technique works best in climates warm enough to grow 2 grain crops yearly:  A winter grain crop and a summer grain crop.  In cooler climates substitute a short season crop like Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) or Turnips (Brassica rapa subspecies rapa)  for the summer grain crop. 

TO CONTROL WEEDS IT IS ESSENTIAL TO KEEP SOIL COVERED WITH GROWING PLANTS AT ALL TIMES = 365 DAYS YEARLY.  USE CLOVERS OR OTHER COVER CROPS TO FILL UP EVERY DAY OF THE GROWING SEASON.  SOIL SHOULD NEVER BE LEFT BARE, NOT EVEN FOR A SINGLE DAY.

Subsistence Grain Farming:     Drill or broadcast seed into standing hay, pasture, range, stubble, or weeds.  For best results sow when grain naturally drops its seeds (most commonly in the Fall = dry or dormant season).  Use pelleted seed if broadcast sowing on soil surface.  Use naked or pelleted seed if planting by drill.  Wait for rain and hope for the best.  In years with good rainfall, subsistence yields will be 60% to 70% of conventionally planted grain crops.  In dry years the crop may not be worth harvesting for grain (but will make forage for cattle).  Even is no crop is harvested, surface vegetation protects land from erosion while roots improve soil structure and fertility.  Subsistence farming makes economic sense because production costs are minimal (seed + 1 pass across the field).  Low costs mean farmers reduce financial risk and gain higher returns on investment.

Seed Bombing:     Seed bombing is a technique used to re-vegetate degraded lands, or to surreptitiously plant vacant lots or other properties not owned by the cultivator = guerrilla gardening.  Seeds are mixed in a stiff clay paste, hand formed into marble to walnut-sized balls, then air dried and stored until planting.  The clay balls are randomly broadcast = bombed over the landscape (or discretely dropped where soil and micro-climate appear most favorable).  A planting density of 10 balls per square meter or yard is typically used for land reclamation projects.

How To Make Seed Balls:     Seed balls are much larger than pellets.  Typical seed balls are the size of large marbles or ball bearings and contain approximately 1/2 fluid ounce = 1 Tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 15 milliliters = 15 cubic centimeters of clay.  Very large seed balls can be double this size = 1/4 cup or approximately the volume of a walnut in its shell.  Use the following recipe to make seed balls for land restoration projects:

1 part seeds + 3 parts finely sifted compost + 5 parts clay + 1 to 2 parts water = 9 to 10 total parts by volume.  Compost is necessary to provide symbiotic fungi essential for root growth.   Mix compost with 10% organic seed protectant (powdered chili pepper) if desired.  1 part organic fertilizer (phosphate rock or bone meal) can be substituted for an equal volume of clay powder to help establish seedlings in phosphorous deficient soils.  Other additives might include nitrogen-fixing bacteria or fritted trace elements, as needed.

Combine in order seeds, compost, clay, and water.  Mix gently until paste has uniform consistency like bread dough.  Portion paste with cookie scoops then shape balls by rolling clay between palms of hands.  Place tightly formed (crack free) balls in a single layer on screens to air dry in the sun.  Store bone-dry seed balls in a moisture-free, well ventilated place until ready to plant.

Carefully encase large seeds like maize, sunflower, peas, beans, lentils, pumpkins, squash, gourds, cucumbers, and melons in individual seed balls.  Mix all small seeded crops (including grasses, clovers, weeds, and wildflowers) randomly with the clay paste.

For land restoration projects choose seed mixtures carefully:  Best results are obtained by combining seeds of native plants that normally grow together in the wild.  It is good practice to include a wide range of species:  Cool and warm season plants, annuals and perennials, grasses, wildflowers, broadleaf plants, weeds, clovers and other legumes.  If budgets are tight or seed too expensive, obtain weed seeds from local grain elevators.  Elevator screenings are free or cheap and contain large amounts of weed seed.  Weeds are ideal species for colonizing bare soils.  Weeds heal the earth allowing less hardy species to become established.

Would You Like To Know More?     Please contact the Author directly if you have any questions or need additional information about pelleted seeds for agriculture and land reclamation.

Please visit:  http://www.worldagriculturesolutions.com  — or —  send your questions to:  Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, 15108 United Sates of America  — or —  send an e-mail to:  Eric Koperek = worldagriculturesolutions@gmail.com

About The Author:     Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania during the summer and in Florida during the winter.  (Growing two generations yearly speeds development of new crop varieties).