{"id":647638,"date":"2026-03-11T09:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T09:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/647638\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T09:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T09:14:17","slug":"cyclists-scatter-seed-bombs-around-north-philly-to-help-native-species-thrive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/647638\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyclists scatter \u2018seed bombs\u2019 around North Philly to help native species thrive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. The Billy Penn newsletter keeps you informed about everything Philly, with a quirky vibe of healthy skepticism and persistent optimism.\u00a0Join us and sign up today.<\/a><\/p>\n

A group of cyclists rolled through North Philly Wednesday night \u2014 cutting the gray blanket of fog with neon reflective vests and tires flashing with rainbow-colored lights. Every few blocks, one of the riders reached into a pocket and tossed a small brown ball into a vacant lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From the sidewalk, it might have looked like littering. Come summer, however, those same empty lots could be covered in purple coneflowers, bee balm and black-eyed Susans. The riders are vigilantes for biodiversity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Each ball \u2014 called a \u201cseed bomb\u201d \u2014 contains a collection of native plant seeds.<\/p>\n

Planting native plants<\/p>\n

The idea for the ride comes from the educational non-profit, Skype a Scientist<\/a>. Executive director Sarah McAnulty \u2014 aka Philly\u2019s \u201cfriendly neighborhood squid scientist\u201d \u2014 teamed up with the social cycling group Wednesday Nights Rides<\/a>, as part of a guerilla marketing approach<\/a> to get Philadelphians planting native plants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really heartwarming to have two groups of people that get together regularly crossover,\u201d McAnulty said. \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect Philadelphia moment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Sarah McAnulty instructs the cycling group ahead of the ride. (Nick Kariuki \/ Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

Before the group set out for their 7:10 p.m. start, they gathered at Penn Treaty Park along the Delaware to arm themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time we\u2019ve ever had a Wednesday ride, where we\u2019ve asked people to throw clods of dirt from their bikes,\u201d organizer Stefan Zajic instructed. \u201cSo please think about that a little. Be thoughtful as you\u2019re throwing your clods of dirt. Don\u2019t throw them at people or cars or anything that will be very angry at you for doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to McAnulty, the damp, cold weather of early March meant perfect conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the seeds that evolved in Philly, they\u2019re used to having a winter, so they want to get cold and soggy for a couple weeks before they sprout,\u201d she said. \u201cSo on a cold, soggy night, like right now, this is the perfect time for them to get into the soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around 50 people took part. The goal was to hit areas like rain gardens, empty lots and verges on the side of the road that don\u2019t have anything growing on them. In doing so, the riders not only add to the city\u2019s green spaces, but also help out native insects and animals who need local plants to thrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got hundreds of seed bombs,\u201d Zajic said. \u201cPlease take them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A rider picks up a handful of seed bombs. (Nick Kariuki\/ Billy Penn)<\/p>\n

Nick Dugan, a Fishtown resident, has followed Wednesday Nights Rides on social media for years. He finally came out to be a part of the seed bomb project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBiodiversity and saving our species, helping out insects, birds, is something super important to me,\u201d Dugan said. \u201cI\u2019m a bird watcher, so any little things we can do to help the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last few weeks, I\u2019ve seen some like statistics about diversity in bird species declining<\/a>,\u201d he added. \u201cI want to live in a world where we have these beautiful things, and where we live in a world full of nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

We too at Billy Penn like beautiful things and helping native species, so we decided to hop on our bikes, follow along and throw some seeds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ride<\/p>\n

Riding a bike at night in Philadelphia is not necessarily a fun experience. Often, cars park in bike lanes (if there even is a bike lane at all). It\u2019s not unusual to get honked or yelled at for just being on the road. All the while, 10% of your brain can\u2019t help but wonder if you\u2019re going to get seriously injured \u2014 a parked car door could suddenly open, or one of your tires could get caught in a trolley track.<\/p>\n

The Wednesday Night Ride experience adds safety in numbers. The group travels in a pack, with organizers in the front and back \u2014 yelling for things like broken glass, pot holes and red lights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI live around here, so I\u2019ve ridden a lot of these streets before, but it\u2019s a different vibe when you\u2019re with a group,\u201d said Dylan Sharpe, a local nurse. \u201cBecause you don\u2019t have to worry as much about cars \u2014 things like that \u2014 it\u2019s a safety in numbers kind of situation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The added brain space also gave us a chance to look around and take in the city a bit more, appreciating Philly\u2019s brick row homes and industrial structures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pace stayed around 9 miles per hour. The idea is a mellow, beginner friendly ride where no one gets left behind. At one point a commuter on her bike crossed paths, and happened to join in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just coming home from work!\u201d she exclaimed, seemingly happy to have found other cyclists.<\/p>\n

During the ride, we kept our eyes peeled for the right opportunities to throw our seed bombs. It wasn\u2019t always easy. For starters, it was dark out. What\u2019s more, throwing a little ball of clay, while riding, takes coordination. The balls were light and didn\u2019t have too much heft for throwing purposes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Often, riders chucked them one handed from the middle of the road. Other times, we waited to throw at natural stopping points. Not all throws were successful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody hit me with one at one point during the ride by accident,\u201d Sharpe reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hard to find fully empty lots or bare dirt patches where there wasn\u2019t grass or trees,\u201d Dugan said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Have you seen this poster with clips of seeds hanging from the bottom? It\u2019s part of Skype a Scientist\u2019s project to help improve Philly\u2019s biodiversity. (Meg Lemieur)<\/p>\n

Still, everyone did their best to give all the seeds a chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, we had some people at the front of our group that were yelling, \u2018Seed bomb left. Seed bomb, right,\u2019\u201d Dugan said. \u201cHopefully some stuck.\u201d<\/p>\n

The entire ride was seven miles long. We went up 13th and then back down American. There was also some ire from cars, with the group receiving the occasional honk. Still, the Wednesday Night Riders were undeterred \u2014 happy to flip the script and be the majority on the road. Near the end of the ride, a woman shouted from her second story window to cheer us on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the members of the community,\u201d said Shea Plunkett, an engineer from East Kensington. \u201cIf the city isn\u2019t gonna work to make the spaces nice for people not in cars, might as well take the beautification into our own hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking back our native world\u201d<\/p>\n

The ride concluded at the Monkey Club in Kensington, where cyclists could grab a beer. As an added bonus, the bar had special pint glasses with native plant-inspired designs from Skype a Scientist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One featured a nice bug in pink shades on a bike with the words, \u201cI\u2019ve got a need for seed.\u201d Billy Penn ended up stealing two of said glasses. (You\u2019re also encouraged to head to the Monkey Club \u2014 or the other 12 spots that have the glasses available \u2014 and do the same<\/a>, while also donating to the cause as penance<\/a>.) There are currently around 1,500 glasses out there.<\/p>\n

At the Monkey Club, riders had the opportunity to chat with each other and reflect on the experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"There are 12 bars around the city that currently have these specialty glasses encouraging Philadelphians to plant native plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer to go on a ride in the winter, because groups are much smaller and you have more of a chance to talk to other riders,\u201d said Adrahos Petrucha, a regular from West Philly. \u201cYou can make friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharpe and his wife Chelsea Olansen were decompressing at the bar after the ride. They were talking with Dugan, who they had just met, reflecting on the experience together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to change it up,\u201d Sharpe said. \u201cWe live in a very car-centric world. I\u2019m kind of forced to commute by car because of where I work, so it\u2019s nice to get out there. And I think seed bombing is a little bit of a rebellion against that \u2014 taking back our native world from all the asphalt and grass and lack of diversity out there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. The Billy Penn newsletter keeps you informed about everything Philly,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":647639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,5302,165935,18844,275205,3778,746,1322,7178,49316,99144,1448,2830,1311,26922,159,2803,262763,262764,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,262767],"class_list":["post-647638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america","tag-bikes","tag-biking","tag-biodiversity","tag-city-biking","tag-cycling","tag-environment","tag-featured","tag-fishtown","tag-kensington","tag-north-philly","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-plants","tag-science","tag-seeds","tag-skype-a-scientist","tag-squid-facts","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-wednesday-night-rides"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116209783499817919","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}