'The Seed Detective' Adam Alexander

‘Ever wonder how peas, kale, asparagus, beans, squash and sweetcorn ended up on our plates? Well, so did I.

After a lifetime of growing vegetables, collecting rare and endangered varieties whilst travelling the world for work and pleasure, and saving them to share with others including displaced people wishing to reconnect with growing familiar crops, this is a book that tells the stories of how the vegetables we often don’t think about or simply take for granted journeyed from wild parent to cultivated offspring and found themselves at the very centre of our food culture.

My passion for collecting and growing unusual vegetables was ignited when I tasted an unusual sweet pepper with a fiery heart while on a film-making project in Ukraine. Smitten, began to seek out local growers of endangered heritage and heirloom varieties in a mission to take home seeds to grow and share so that I could enjoy their delicious taste – and save them from being lost forever.

We are a nation of vegetable growers and this book explores the wonderful world of rare and endangered heritage and heirloom vegetables – and why we must keep growing them and saving their seed, not only for our gardening and culinary pleasure, but to pass these stories on – vegetables are truly our history on a plate.'  Adam Alexander

The writing is rich, demonstrating his deep integration into the world of seed seekers… a clarion call to think about our food in new ways and to carefully consider where it comes from – Chris Stokel-Walker New Scientist