A review by zoe_
The Seed Detective: Uncovering the Secret Histories of Remarkable Vegetables by Adam Alexander

informative inspiring reflective

3.0

I‘ve seen some other people criticise this book for being too dry and textbook-y, to which I say that I wish it was. Or rather, I wish that this book was either more like an in-depth textbook or like a personal account with many anecdotes that also includes factual information. As it stands, this book was a bit too „superficial“ for my taste. However, I do think that there is a lot of merit in this book and it was quite inspirational and has contributed greatly to my ever-increasing desire to start cultivating a garden properly (and with some heirloom varieties). The only „objective“ criticism I have is that I believe Alexander thinks too highly of Linneaus and classification (which is generally a much more complex issue than he makes it seem). And in the grand scheme of things, that is a minor critique at best, especially because it is not actually relevant to the book.

I do believe that wvery single vegetable mentioned in this book would deserve a book all on its own detailing it’s origin, history, domestication, travels, and the many offspring/cousins associated with it. And I chose the believe that Alexander would agree with me in this.