The Seed Detective: Uncovering the Secret Histories of Remarkable Vegetables by Adam Alexander.

3/5 rating. 274 pages.

Book #18 of 2023. Read May 25, 2023.

This book tells all about Adam’s travels in search of seeds, and the histories of some of those vegetables.

I enjoyed this book a bunch learning about the different types of tasty varieties of vegetables out there. It’s been sad how agriculture has changed recently to be all about uniformity and being able to ship, without much of any regard to taste. The move towards F1 hybrids that can’t have their seeds saved is also a travesty that should be illegal!!

Some great quotes:

“This had happened in under a century and now means humanity has turned food from the means of existence into the prime cause of premature death and also, we must acknowledge, a major driver of water and land use, of climate change and biodiversity loss.”

“Locally grown, just harvested and rapidly consumed, there is not a vegetable I grow that isn’t superior to anything found in a supermarket aisle.”

“Serious plant breeding over the next hundred years meant that by the end of the nineteenth century, the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) had recorded a total of 408 varieties of pea being grown commercially. By 1983 the number recorded was just 25, a loss of over 90 per cent.”

“In fact, tomatoes are the number one vegetable grown in the world; 16 per cent of all cultivation is down to the humble tomato.”

This is a fun book for those interested in farming, gardening, and seed saving. It’s worth a read if you’re interested in any of these topics.

#seeds #gardening #farming #vegetables #seedsaving #adamalexander

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