There is no despair in a seed. There's only life, waiting for the right conditions-sun and water, warmth and soil-to be set free. Everyday, millions upon millions of seeds lift their two green wings.

At no time in our history have Americans been more obsessed with food. Options- including those for local, sustainable, and organic food-seem limitless. And yet, our food supply is profoundly at risk. Farmers and gardeners a century ago had five times the possibilities of what to plant than farmers and gardeners do today; we are losing untold numbers of plant varieties to genetically modified industrial monocultures. In her latest work of literary nonfiction, award-winning author and activist Janisse Ray argues that if we are to secure the future of food, we first must understand where it all begins: the seed.

The Seed Underground is a journey to the frontier of seed-saving. It is driven by stories, both the author's own and those from people who are waging a lush and quiet revolution in thousands of gardens across America to preserve our traditional cornucopia of food by simply growing old varieties and eating them. The Seed Underground pays tribute to time-honored and threatened varieties, deconstructs the politics and genetics of seeds, and reveals the astonishing characters who grow, study, and save them.

Die kuns om spesifieke plante naby mekaar te plant sodat hulle mekaar op een of ander manier bevoordeel, word al honderde jare beoefen. Plantpasmaats is plante wat mekar help deurdat hulle 'n reuk of chemikalee afskei wat peste en plae afweer, of deurdat hulle voordelige insekte aanlok wat die omliggende plante bestuif of jag maak op skadelike insekte. Sommige plante stel weer voedingstowwe in die grond vry wat deur ander plante gebruik kan word. Het jy geweet ...Kappertjies wat saam met pampoene, skorsies en komkommers geplant word, versryf kewers, plantluise en ander insekte wat die groente beskadig. En boonop is kappertjies eetbaar! Wortels en preie is uitstekende plantmaats. Preie verjaag die wortelvlieg en die wortels jaag weer die vliee en motte wat uie en preie beskadig. Die verskillende reuke verwar die insekte en ontmoedig hulle so. Aspersies keer dat aalwurms tamatieplante se wortels aanval. Koljaner verjaag inskete en word in 'n natuurlike spuitstof teen die rooispinnekopmyt gebruik. Knoffel verjaag plantluise en is veral 'n goeie plantpasmaat vir rose. Hierdie titel beskryf meer as 100 kruie, voedsel- en medisinale plante en hulle plantpasmaats, met raad oor hoe, wanneer en waar om hulle te plant, te oes en te gebruik. Verweef in die teks is resepte vir natuurlike bemestingstowwe en spuitmiddels en inligting oor die medisinale en huishoudelike gebruike van plante. Afsonderlike afdelings dek nuttige onkruid, natuurlike spuitstowwe, deklae, bemestingstowwe en ander metodes om die grond te versterk.