The Seed Detective

Adam Alexander's book is an inspirational call to deepen our relationship with the vegetables we eat - and perhaps others we have yet to discover - by exploring the cultural wealth of their origins and journeys.

Across chapters arranged into visitors from the east and arrivals from the west, Adam 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. He draws on a lifetime's experience 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.

Our favourite chapters explore peas, fava beans and other beans, but the book ranges beyond legumes.