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Seed Paper

Seed paper is a fun way to create easy to plant seed collections for your garden. You can also give them to your friends and family to plant in their gardens to help make the world a bit prettier. What will you do with your seed paper?

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Plan

  • How will make your seed paper?
  • What supplies will you need for your seed paper?
  • How can you find out what seeds to put into your seed paper?
  • Where will you plant your seed paper?

Do

  • Soak the paper pieces in the bowl of water overnight. Put the soaked paper into the blender, then fill the blender halfway with fresh water.
  • Blend until the mixture is soupy.
  • Fill the baking pan 1/4 full of water, then pour in the blended paper mixture—or pulp.
  • Slip the embroidery hoop with screen in from the side so that it slides beneath the pulp and seeds. If necessary, spoon some of the pulp over the screen.
  • Lift the screen gently, catching the pulp mixture evenly on top and letting the water drain off.
  • Lay the screen on a bath towel or felt layers to drain.
  • Sprinkle some seeds on top of the wet pulp, and gently pat them into the surface of the pulp.
  • When the bath towel or felt has soaked up as much water as it can, pick up the hoop and turn it over onto a sheet of waxed paper to dry. (Seeds will be on the bottom.)
  • You may have to gently hit the hoop on the table or counter surface to loosen the pulp from the screen. If the pulp does not stick together, try putting more pulp on the screen next time.
  • Let the paper dry for at least 24 hours.
  • If the paper does not lie flat, place a heavy object (like a book) on it for a few hours to flatten it.
  • Decorate it with markers on the un-seeded side.
  • Plant your paper flat under 1cm of soil and water

Review

  • What did you find out about gardening during this activity?
  • What difference will your flowers make?
  • What was the most challenging part of this activity?
  • Remember to submit your activities on our Scouts for Sustainability Take Action Map to the Review section.

Materials

  • Printer paper, cut into tiny pieces (use 1 ½ cups per piece of seed paper)
  • Large bowl of warm water
  • Window screen material
  • Small embroidery hoop
  • Blender
  • 23 cmx 33 cm baking pan
  • Flower seeds
  • Bath towels
  • Waxed paper
  • Coloured markers

Keep it Simple

  • Start small by planting seeds in pots inside your house. Once the seeds have sprouted, transfer them to your garden outside! See how big they grow throughout the summer.

Take it Further

  • Turn your seed paper into holiday cards! Everyone loves getting cards, but it can be hard to figure out what to do with them once the holiday has passed. Start sending cards that don’t need to be recycled – they can be planted instead!