21 August 2012

Regreening The Landscape With Fukuoka's Seed Balls

The Center of Natural Farming in Greece is a permaculture paradise inspired by the teachings of Japanese philosopher and the founder of Natural Gardening, Masanobu Fukuoka. It was started in 1998 by Payanitis Manikis, and is located 2 kilometers from the city of Edessa. No soil is tilled, no artificial fertilizers or pesticides are used, and hundreds of different plants and animals live side by side in natural symbiosis and harmony.
A remarkable part of this video is where see the result of the thousands of seed balls tossed by volunteers from the center into barren hills of southern Greece that were destroyed by fire, around the 5 minute mark. Very inspiring to see first a little green action, then a landscape covered in green thanks to Fukuoka's amazing creation.
Seed balls are seeds encased in a clay ball that hardens enough so that it can be tossed without falling apart. When the rains come, it becomes wet enough to begin germinating wherever it landed. Now those hills are blooming again. Good ideas travel all over the world!

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