Spotlight on: Seedball

We pack a lot of things into our shop, online and in real life. We try our best to make sure that when you visit us you know that you’ll be able to find a gift for pretty much anyone, or even a little something for yourself or your home. We carefully research and hand-pick which brands we stock and ensure that what we offer to you is a carefully curated selection of things we would love and use ourselves or give as a gift to a friend or family member. We also hope that you find something that you wont find in every other shop you visit. We like to be a bit different aswell you see!

But there’s a lot to keep track of! So we thought it might be quite nice to pick out a few of our brands from time to time; and to share a little bit more about them. If you know them already and have bought their products before – from us or somewhere else - then you might just learn something new. And if you have never heard of them or they’re a new-to-you find, then lucky you because you’re in for a treat and you might just find a few extra things sneaking into your shopping basket. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

This time we’d love to introduce you one of our newer brands and one that has fast become a firm favourite with both us and you! This post’s well-deserved ‘spotlight’ is shining ever so brightly on Seedball.

Seedball is a small, non-profit company on a huge mission: To increase not only the volume and variety of British wildflowers but then also the wildlife that then exists and thrives because of them. They create teeny tiny seedballs to enable growers to grow and nurture a wide selection of wildflowers in whatever kind of space and conditions they have available; whether that’s a flower bed, patio container or window box! They’re a passionate bunch dedicated to improving our local ecosystems and helping to reverse the damage that has been done over the past few years to pollinators and other garden wildlife and their innovative Seedballs are designed to do just that.

Seedball began after both its creators struggled to successfully grow their own wildflowers. Both studied conservation related topics at Aberdeen University and understood the importance and impact that these blooms had on our ecosystems and so set about coming up with a foolproof way to be better at it! During their research they stumbled upon the work of Masonobu Fukuoka: A Japanese natural farming innovator. Fukuoka promoted using seed balls in places where there was very little or unpredictable rainfall – the clay used inside the seed balls helped protect them against damage or being eaten until the rain arrived and the seeds began to germinate. A penny dropped and both girls realised that they might be able to use the same innovation with their own wildflower seed balls. And the rest is history!

Emily and Ana say: ‘For us we want Seedball to inspire a wildlife gardening revolution while providing a very handy way of going about it! Conservation is in our heart and soul and one day we dream to fund our own Seedball wildflower reserves. Watch this space!!!”

SO, WHAT IS A SEEDBALL AND HOW THE DEVIL DO THEY WORK?!

A Seedball is a teeny tiny ecosystem, protecting your precious seeds from birds, ants and slugs to give them nutrition as they germinate and grow.

Step one: Choose the kind of wildflowers you would like to grow and give a little thought to what kind of conditions are available in the space that you have. Do you want a specific colour? Is the spot you intend to grow them damp or more shady than usual? There’s a Seedball to suit pretty much all areas and environments.

Step two: Scatter onto bare soil or compost. Due to the protective clay coating there is no need to bury your Seedballs. This also prevents them being eaten by pests and keeps the seeds inside nicely cosy.

Step three: With enough light, warmth and water the tiny seeds will begin to germinate and grow. Chilli powder is mixed inside each Seedball which prevents them being eaten by slugs or snails.

Step four: As time passes and the seedlings grow, the ball will disperse leaving a little patch of wildflower seeds which will continue to thrive and grow!

Step five: Each type of wildflower has a different flowering time – some will flower in the first year after planting and some not until the year after. This gradual growth will provide an important habitat and food for all kinds of garden wildlife.

WHY DO WE STOCK THEM?

We couldn’t sing and dance about expanding our homeware section and go forgetting about the garden! We’ve all valued that extra outside space and appreciated our little green havens no matter the size over these past few months! We know it isn’t just us and so we wanted to pick a small selection of sustainable and eco-friendly garden treats for you to give the space you do have a little TLC. We loved Seedball as soon as we discovered them. They’re a small U.K company with a real passion for what they do and stand for and that’s right up our street! We’ve recently planted our very own Seedballs and we can’t wait to share some photos once they start to come to life!

PERFECT FOR…

All kinds of things! Seedball tins are a perfect ‘pop in a padded envelope and send to a friend’ sort of a gift as they’re light and reasonably priced. They’d make a perfect addition to any gift for loved ones particularly passionate about their own garden or window boxes! They would also make really lovely wedding favours or party bag fillers! Especially our…..

FAVOURITE PRODUCTS…

We really love the Seedball tin giftbox as it’s such a lovely selection of seeds! Three tins: Cloud Meadow, Bee and Hedgehog Mix. These are tucked up in a recyclable and compostable giftbox. The Wildlife Collection Seed Boxes are also pretty sweet! The set of six seed boxes includes seeds for bees, bats, butterflies, beetles and hedgehogs. Each individual mini box includes an information card with details on each wildflower mix – so beautiful! These work lovely as a a set but might be a really lovely filler for a party bag!

How is your garden looking and have you picked up any of our new Seedballs whilst meandering around the shop or scrolling through online?! We’d love to know if you have and to see any photos as your beautiful wildflowers grow!