I THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED. THERE IS A TOY SUBSTANCE CALLED WATER BEADS, LITTLE PLASTIC BALLS, WHICH, WHEN PLACED IN WATER SWELL TO BECOME A TACTILE GEL, WHICH CHILDREN LIKE TO PLAY WITH. THERE IS A PEAHEN THAT WANDERS THROUGH MY GARDEN GRAZING. PEAHENS ARE VORACIOUS OMNIVORES, AND THE THEORY IS SHE WANDERED INTO A CHILDS GARDEN, ATE SOME OF THESE AND POOED THEM ONTO MY PATIO AND LAST NIGHTS RAIN WASHED THE FECAL MATER AWAY LEAVING THE GEL BALLS. ANOTHER GARDENER IN THE VILLAGE NOTED THE SAME.
PLEASE DO NOT BUY THESE WATER BEADS. THEY ARE DANGEROUS IF INGESTED IN LARGE QUANITIES AND THEY POLLUTE THE LAND.
They are supposed to be banned in most countries. doubt that will be China though, they are still for sale here. There are millions of them in nappies, sanitary towels and incontinence products. Micro plastics in the ocean is a big debate that may never be rectified.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Oh balls. My local woods was peppered with these gel balls sometime this week and I immediately thought of this thread. Apparently 'gel blaster guns' are the new craze and this ammo is cheap and disposable so it will no doubt be appearing alongside the disposable vapes and NOS canisters in many areas very soon.
The marketing bumf says:
"Since gel beads are made from 100% biodegradable materials, they do not
pose any significant risk to the environment if disposed of properly.
While some types of non-biodegradable materials may take hundreds or
even thousands of years to break down naturally in the environment, gel
ball blaster water beads can break down much faster."
So assuming that "disposed of properly" means shot into your friends' faces in the woods I can look forward to them disappearing in less than hundreds of years. Maybe I'll harvest them to add to pots and baskets...
I'm probably being dramatic since this stuff disappears in the garden fairly rapidly and no one has really raised a fuss over that use.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Posts
I wonder if they’re like this?
https://www.walterreeves.com/tools-and-chemicals/marble-sized-gel-balls-in-dirt/
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/948638/yellow-balls-in-soil#latest
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
There are millions of them in nappies, sanitary towels and incontinence products.
Micro plastics in the ocean is a big debate that may never be rectified.
Luxembourg