I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where I live and write, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respect to their elders past, present and emerging.
This book would never have existed if it weren’t for Sally Heath, my wonderful editor at Thames and Hudson Australia, who started me on a journey of a lifetime with an email simply titled, ‘Book?’ From there, her enduring encouragement and support enabled me to shape The Age of Seeds into being. Indeed, everyone at T&H has been a delight to work with, including editor Fay Helfenbaum, whose hard work got me across the finish line, as well as copy-editor Paul Smitz and proofreader Eugenie Baulch, whose fine-tuning of the manuscript is deeply appreciated. I also want to thank Josh Durham for the absolutely beautiful cover design.
I am incredibly grateful to all the researchers, botanists, horticulturalists, genebank managers, conservationists and seed keepers I spoke to. Such categories, I should note, are not mutually exclusive – the world of seeds is a dynamic one. I extend a heartfelt thanks to these fascinating people who generously shared their time and knowledge with me: Åsmund Asdal, Shara Bailey, Carol Baskin, Andrea Blackburn, Louise Colville, Devena Cox, Si-Chong Chen, Michael DeMotta, Jessika Greendeer, Lee Hickey, Charlotte Lusty, Ayesha Moss, Marie Noelle Ndjiondjop, Cathy Offord, Mark Ooi, Michael Purugganan, Deepak Ray, Andrew Rozefelds, Elaine Solowey, Christina Walters, Kylie Weatherall, Katherine Whitehouse, Dustin Wolkis, and Mariana Yazbek. I am also grateful to all the other experts referred to in this book whom I did not interview directly but who, through publication, lectures, and other forms of outreach, have shared their work and knowledge with the world.
Michael Webster, my love, thank you for always believing in me, even when I didn’t. It means more to me than you will ever know. To Ava and Ruby, thank you for all the daily love and laughter, and for your baffled patience with mum going on and on about seeds and plants for months on end. Thank you for helping me grow sunflowers, they were quite pretty until Gerald the parrot ate them. I am also thankful to Paris and the Webster family for cheering me on, including Greg Blackman who once said of seeds, ‘You don’t have to be big to contain a universe.’ To my dear sister and travel-buddy extraordinaire Lyssa Barrow, thank you for your kindness, love and for always looking out for me. I still don’t wear matching socks, though. Danielle Richards and Suse King, thank you for keeping me well supplied with lovely cakes and knitted things and for making sure we always celebrate the wins. May this book one day find its way into our fabled King’s Emporium.
In addition, I have been immensely fortunate to share my writing journey with many wonderful writers along the way. Thank you for the inspiration, insight and friendship: Kim Wilkins, Vicki Cramer, Bianca Nogrady, Dyani Lewis, Charlotte Nash-Stewart, Meg Vann, Rebekah Turner, Nicole Cody, Sally Newham and Liz McKewin.
To all seed keepers everywhere, thank you for what you are doing.