Without a program in March or April, because of coronavirus protocols, the Locust Valley Garden Club sent members instructions for a fun home project. Getting out into the garden and playing with seeds and soil is a great way to sew a little happiness.
The project is based on an article in The New York Times, March 3, by Malia Wollan, about making Wildflower Bombs. The idea started in New York city in the 1970s, she said. It was about what Urban Gardeners are still doing to brighten up their cities. It is even being done today, in the UK. And although it is illegal to cast the seeds on public property, or your neighbor’s yard, in the UK, the Bobbies sort of look the other way.
Kassie Miller Roth was excited by the idea, especially since she has clay in her Locust Valley garden, a key ingredient in the formula. Adding seeds donated by Audrey Rydzewski, to her compost, she worked outside on a plastic covered table. She added the softened clay, into the middle, just the way you make pasta dough, and hand blended the mix. She then made small balls and placed them on a cookie sheet to dry in the sun.
Size is relative: using one-part seeds, three parts clay and five parts compost, Daniel Cunningham, a horticulturalist at Texas A&M, suggested the “bombs” be small, about the size of a nickel or a dime. Kassie’s are generous-sized.
When the wildflower seed bombs were dry, (a problem in a week of rainy weather) she placed some of them in a wide circle around the foot of her flowering cherry tree. “Some will be going to Barbara’s Garden at the Locust Valley Library, and some will be tossed in hiking trails,” she said. There is no doubt that they will bloom because Kassie was born with a green thumb.
She grew up in Trinadad on her family estate, where her father grew cash crops, including coffee, cocoa, citrus fruit, bananas and watermelon. “We picked our own fruits and vegetables from our backyard garden.”
In May, if we are still keeping close to home, another project is being planned. The Locust Valley Garden Club meets the second Wednesday of the month at Bailey Arboretum’s manor house, Lattingtown. The program fee of $15 and includes lunch. Come and learn. For information please contact Dean Yoder at dyinteriors@yahoo.com.
