Recycled Wildflower Seed Paper

Last fall, when our dog Ruby passed away, our veterinarian gave us a small, heart-shaped wildflower seed card to plant in her memory. If you’ve never seen one of these cards, they’re essentially recycled paper with seeds embedded in the fibers so they sprout when the paper is planted..

My daughter is the sentimental type and held onto our card all winter, eagerly awaiting the moment we’d officially memorialize the life of our precious dog. She’s written a tribute and selected a poem and made seed cards for all of us to plant.

Although we made cards to remember our dog Ruby, some folks make them to celebrate a birthday, earth day, Mother’s Day, Easter. Lucky for all, they’re easy to make. All you need is a packet of seeds and some non-glossy, dye-free paper. Newspaper work but laminate magazine pages won’t. If you have screening material (such as an old screen window or a grease splatter screen), definitely use it — the paper will dry much faster this way. But, don’t rush out and buy one — a baking sheet works just fine, too.

Materials

large bowl

3 cups shredded paper, dye-free and non-glossy

3 cups warm water

2 packs wildflower seeds

high speed blender

wooden spoon

strainer

baking tray or screen to dry paper on

pencil and scissors

Directions

1. Rip the paper into small pieces and toss them into the bowl.

2. Cover the paper with water and allow it to soak for several hours, or until it’s mushy.

3. Add paper and water to the blender and mix until The paper and water have the consistency of oatmeal.  Add more warm water, if needed.

4. Transfer the mixture back to the bowl, add the seeds, and mix well with a spoon.

5. Pour the pulp into a strainer over the sink and press gently with the back of a wooden spoon to remove excess water. Be careful not to remove all the water as doing so will make it hard to spread the pulp in the next step.

6. Transfer the pulp to a baking tray or screen and spread and press It flat with the palms of your hands. Ideally the pulp should be tHin, roughly 1/4“ to 1/8” thick. Once flat, cover the pulp with an absorbent cloth towel and press down to absorb as much water as possible. This will help speed up the drying process.

7. Allow the pulp to dry For one to two days. To speed up the process, set it in a warm sunny spot in the yard. If it’s still damp after 24-48 hours, flip it to the other side and allow it to dry a little longer.

8. Once the paper is dry, transfer it to a flat, dry surface, draw shapes on it, and cut them out.

9. Plant the seed paper on a warm, spring day after the last frost. Cover it with rich compost, water daily, and wait for it to sprout wildflowers. Enjoy!

*Note: if you own a food dehydrator, you can also dry the seeds on one of Its screens. Just dry the pulp on the lowest setting possible to protect the integrity of the seeds). The drying process is extremely fast this way and will only take a few hours.