Part 1 Manual Seed Ball Mixer for Food Garden Clay Balls - Natural Farming

A long bolt, three nuts, six washers a plastic container and a pedal are used to make this simple seed ball mixer. Two nuts with four washers are used to stabilize the bolt through the container and its cap and one nut with two washers are used to stabilize the pedal. This pedal is available in Greece for 2 euros at the hardware stores.The base I happened to have around but one can improvise to make one.

With this little machine one can easily make many seed balls faster than using just his hands. The technique used and the proportions of water and clay-soil mix vary depending on a number of factors. One should play a bit with trial and error and figure out himself or herself how to use the machine.A basic rule is that you don't want excess water because clay balls will stick together forming big balls with many seeds each. Also too much water makes the mix stick on the walls of the container. On the other hand too much clay-soil will form eventually balls with no seeds in them. As you can see in the video you add water and clay one after the other and GRADUALLY to form the seed balls layer after layer. I can type for ever but one has to try himself or herself to get the feeling.You can see me in the video watching constantly in the container to decide what to do next.Watch the video carefully and I will come up with more videos to help you get the feeling.There is also a video with Masanobu Fukuoka doing this on a cement mixer.( this video inspired me). Good thing about the manual mixer is that you can always change the rotating speed or stop. Another good thing is that you don't need any motors or weird parts (except the pedal maybe but you can figure out an alternative) and no tools at all.

MUSIC IN THE VIDEO: "TA XYLA" traditional theme from the Greek Island of Lesvos performed by local musicians

Upgrades to the system coming up in video part 2:
Bigger container. I feel that my hand power is enough to handle a container 3 times bigger
More Transparent container. So that the inside is not too dark and I can see better while creating the balls.
Bigger front opening of the container. So that I can easily look inside and throw my materials in bigger portions. I will try taking the cap off and using a second bolt in a T shape to the first one to stabilize the big bolt in the middle

These seedballs from the video will be used in my kitchen garden. My next attempts will be with tree seeds, and serials. Stay tuned for results.

Feel free to ask questions regarding the mixer. As for Natural Farming its more of a philosophy than just a technique so don't expect technical details, or specific answers to specific questions.For example the recipe I present here varies, if your compost is rich you can use less. If your clay is hard you can spin less maybe...You have to try . Also seed balls is just a way to protect seeds from ants and rodents. For the seeds to sprout prosper and become healthy plants there are many other factors and conditions. I can maybe say though that WHATEVER THE QUESTION IS A RELATIVELY GOOD ANSWER WOULD BE "BIG VARIETY OF PLANTS, MICROORGANISMS AND ANIMALS" and in just two words "HELP LIFE"
Natural farming is a path and myself has made only a few steps. Refer to Masanobu Fukuokas books and alive students for best help.
I wish you peace!

#Naturalfarming #Seedballs #Masanobufukuoka