The Seed Hunter: Discover the World's Most Unusual Heirloom Plants

by Mitch McCulloch

Why grow the same dull vegetables and herbs filling every supermarket shelf? If you're putting in the effort and growing your own, better make it something sensational!

There's a thrilling diversity of rare and unusual heirloom plants out a riot of beauty, colour, and flavour that can only be experienced by growing your own. So saddle up and join the trail blazed by Mitch the Seed Hunter as he shows you how to source, grow, and enjoy the most amazing crops from around the world.

The antithesis of mass-produced hybrids and genetically modified seed, heirloom crops provide a connection with the past, seeds that have been passed down through generations, rescued from oblivion, and preserved by a dedicated community of growers.

From Italian flat onions to pink broad beans, apple-sized melons beloved of Queen Anne, to purple-and-white Gniff carrots from Switzerland (almost lost to extinction), orange okra from Japan, and ancient Aztec broccoli - Mitch shares his passion for growing them all and making the most of their incredible flavours.

Genres: Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

Published October 8, 2024

Reviews

[Pauline Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

A seed encyclopaedia, a must for all gardeners. A practical guide to when to sow, grow and harvest. Histories of many different varieties of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Beautifully illustrated and lots of photography. Really enjoyed this book and highly recommend for anyone thinking of starting their own vegetable patch.

[Crista Lash · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t a book I’d recommend reading straight through—though I did. The opening sections offer some truly helpful gardening tips, which I’ll definitely treasure. It also dives into fascinating history behind many common garden crops. Where it fell short for me was in its lack of photos of the “world’s most unusual heirloom plants” highlighted on the cover. Reading about them without any visuals was frustrating—I constantly wanted to google every single variety mentioned, which felt a little ridiculous (and no, I didn’t actually do it).

[Ligaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book with tons of helpful gardening hints. Plenty of photography BUT this book suffers in that there isn't a photo of ALL the really interesting sounding (and looking) plants, vegetables, and fruits that the author describes - not everything has an accompanying photo! Also, design-wise, having text on a colored background made it very difficult to read in bed (and on an overnight flight).

[Sheila Bigelow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book - pictures are lovely and a wide range of plant varieties are included instead of just the basic few (31 varieties of tomatoes!!!).

[Lori Palen]

Paged through. Seemed fine, but didn’t look like it offered anything beyond other garden books or seed catalogs I’ve read.