Workshop: Seed Bombs

SALT Beyoğlu Forum

Urban inhabitants now have a tool for greening inaccessible and unused urban areas: seed bombs! As a continuation of last spring’s Seed Bomb workshop with urban activist collective imkanmekan, in collaboration with Pelin Demireli, a free workshop will be held at SALT Beyoğlu in which participants make clay seed balls based on farmer-philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka’s natural agriculture techniques and ideas around the return to natural farming. Seed bombs contain earth, dry clay, water and a mixture of seeds, and can be spread anywhere in the city their creators would like to see plants grow. Clay protects seed bombs from drying out, being blown away by the wind, or being eaten by mice or birds. When enough water passes and cracks their surface, seeds enter the germination phase. The Seed Bomb workshop at SALT Beyoğlu will make a variety of winter vegetable, herb and flower seeds available.

The Garden at SALT Beyoğlu was developed by Fritz Haeg as an edible planting project to act as the hub for an ongoing education and cultural program. Since 2005, Haeg has been creating a series of gardens that produce food in unlikely urban spaces known as Edible Estates in partnership with local organizations and families.

Pelin Demireli leads gardening and cooking workshops for children with organizations including Sulukule Volunteer Association, Şişli Ecological Market, Kuzguncuk Elementary School, Kınalı Summer Camp and Minik Fırın. She is also engaged in a network of local farmers and seed swappers working to make traditional seeds available both within and outside of İstanbul.