Pavlovsk Seed Bank Saved, 'Sunflower Seeds' Closed

Two updates on seed-based projects that took social media by storm. 

The Guardian is reporting that Russia has rethought their plan to break up the Pavlovsk seed bank. If you don't know about the Pavlovsk seed bank you can familiarize yourself with its amazing history here. It seems more like an agricultural experiment station, but everyone and their mother describes it as a seed bank. Perhaps the seed bank label helps people understand what it is easier. 

Just days after it opened at London's Tate Modern the installation, 'Sunflower Seeds,' by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has been shut down. Visitors are only being allowed to see it from a distance. It seems the crowds, who were encouraged to interact with the seeds, were creating a "greater than expected level" of ceramic dust. There were fears that being exposed to the dust could be cause health problems. Too bad, I was planning a trip to snatch one of the 100 million hand-crafted porcelian sunflower seeds. :)

Update 11/13/10: Artist Ai Weiwei is under house arrest read about it here. 

SimplySalad Lettuce Seed Pellets

Is there anything easier than growing lettuce from seed? Doesn't seem like it, right? In the mail today I received a sample of what the Ball Horticulture Company hopes will make growing salads even simpler for home gardeners. SimplySalad™ is a mixture of loose-leaf lettuce and greens bred to be compliment each other and look attractive in your containers.

Here is what the front of the SimplySalad™ sample looks like. The lettuce seeds are in the pellets in the clear vial in the upper-left had corner. The instructions say you can sow 3-4 multi-pellets in a 10" container, and 4-5 mult-pellets in 12" or larger containers.

Here's the back of the SimplySalad™ sample pack.

The SimplySalad™ was developed by PanAmerican Seed, a breeding subsidiary of the Ball Horticultural Company. The lettuce seed pellets are currently available through mail-order seed catalog companies like W. Atlee Burpee, Harris Seed, Territorial Seed Co., and others. Home gardeners who do not buy vegetable seeds through seed catalogs will find them in garden centers across America in 2011.

Looking for information on starting lettuce seeds? Do a search of the Seed Snatcher search engine.