The Seed Detective

Uncovering the Secret Histories of Remarkable Vegetables

By: Adam Alexander, Tim Lang - foreword

Narrated by: Calum Beaton

Have you ever wondered how peas, kale, asparagus, beans, squash, and corn have ended up on our plates? Well, Adam Alexander has.

Adam Alexander is The Seed Detective. His passion for vegetables was ignited when he tasted an unusual sweet pepper with a fiery heart while on a filmmaking project in Ukraine. Smitten by its flavor, Adam began to seek out local growers of endangered heritage and heirloom varieties in a mission to bring home seeds to grow, share, and return so that he could enjoy their delicious taste—and save them from being lost forever.

In The Seed Detective, Adam shares his own stories of seed hunting, with the origin stories behind many of our everyday food heroes. Taking us on a journey that began when we left the life of the hunter-gatherer to become farmers, he tells tales of globalization, political intrigue, colonization, and serendipity—describing how these vegetables and their travels have become embedded in our food cultures.

©2022 Adam Alexander (P)2023 Chelsea Green

So well written and informative!

I loved the book! Well written and so much information! Only wish there was a list at the end of his favorite vegetables since I was listening and didn't always have an opportunity to write things down. Highly recommend to anyone who loves gardening/farming.

Grow sruff!

an entertaining trip through seed history and personal experience. Plant seeds. grow things, .ake the world a better place.

Engaging read

The story of our relationship with vegetables told on a huge historical canvas. Well done.

The author's enthusiasm

This was a very good presentation of a complex subject. The author's enthusiasm and appreciation for food and growing food is infectious.

Too Academic

This book needed more story and less recitation of which expert did long-ago work. Never really explained why much of this mattered today, other than the umbrella statement that modern ag comes at the cost of food diversity. Maybe this belongs at a university press. Sorry