Chelsea Green Publishing has acquired Adam Alexander’s Accidental Seed Heroes.

Head of publishing Muna Reyal has acquired world rights from Sonia Land to Sheil Land, and the book will be published in the UK on 20 March 2025 and in North America on 4 September 2025.

“In Accidental Seed HeroesAdam Alexander dons his seed detective Homburg gear to meet our 21st century seed heroes,” the synopsis reads. “From Rajasthan to his garden in Wales, across Europe to the remote regions of southern Albania and the Rift Valley of Ethiopia – Adam reminds us that indigenous cultures and rural communities have been expertly cultivating seeds for millennia.”

It adds: “In his heart, Accidental Seed Heroes it’s a celebration of locally and sustainably grown produce, whether traditional or innovative, which is the foundation of all our food cultures. Adam shows that the ability to save and adapt seeds should be a right for all, not something to be controlled by corporations trying to patent seeds for profit. That everyone who grows food, whether amateur or professional, can be a seed hero – building resilience, restoring soil fertility and the earth’s biodiversity.”

Accidental Seed Heroes follows the first book of Alexander, The Seed Detective (Chelsea Green Publishing), which was shortlisted for the Garden Media Guild’s Garden Book of the Year 2023 and was the Radio 4 Food Program Book of the Year.

Reyal said: “We can all be seed heroes and in this highly entertaining but vitally important book, Adam explores the work of everyday farmers, chefs, scientists and gardeners who are creating a food future of last minute and positive.”

Alexander added: “I sit at the feet of traditional and indigenous farmers and a global cohort of professional, independent and amateur growers who are guardians of genetic diversity and at the forefront of a counter-revolution in plant breeding and conservation.”

Land commented: “Adam’s work, alongside that of more well-known gene and seed banks such as the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens, is extremely invaluable as he writes about his personal findings from a vantage point practical, historical and futuristic view.”