Ex chef McCulloch wants to preserve rare and unusual plants.
As a boy, he liked to collect football stickers and Pokemon cards. That moved on to seeds. After cheffing, he worked at the organic Maple Farm in Kelsale, Suffolk, and charted his job on Instagram, then moved to Four Acre Farm in Ringwood, Hampshire, where he coined the name the Seed Hunter and populated his four acre garden there with rare seeds.
Seed sources he gives in the book are Real Seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library and eBay. There's a QR code in the book with a list, which is an unusual idea, rather than publishing a list, but at least that keeps it up to date. See go.dk.com/us-seed-hunter-suppliers. This includes Seeds of Italy, The Seed Detective and Chiltern Seeds, as well as the mass market Dobbies, Kings, T&M and Johnsons, which is listed as in Kent, rather than Kentford. There;s a very useful overseas seed supply guide too. Getting seed from outside the EU might not be so easy post-Brexit though.
The book reports McCulloch's experience, from no dig to what to grow to how to grow it. His point of difference is he is youngish and cool, and he recommends rare varieties, a bit like Lucy Hutchings of She Grows Veg.
There's a thorough vegetable growing guide, from leeks to lettuce, that takes up most of the book. Based on his own research, McCulloch is a reliable guide into the world of heirloom seeds. And if you want a guide that digs a lot deeper into what to grow on your plot, then this is it.
