RAISED $10,950 / $12,000 | Updated Aug 20, 2026
After publishing The Whole Okra: A Stem to Seed Celebration, which won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2020. My publisher, Chelsea Green, has been politely and consistently asking if I’d write another book, and I finally said yes!
It’s taken me a long time, but for the last 18 months or so, I’ve been steadily working on Saved by Seeds: Embracing Diversity, Adaptation, and Diversity which will be published this fall/winter, with a foreword by the legendary Ira Wallace!
I’m dedicated to this book being beautiful. It’ll be full color and will include photography by Peter Taylor and illustrations by Leeza Chen. I’m actively raising funds to pay Peter and Leeza for their work. You can think of the fundraiser as placing a pre-order for the book and leaving a tip to support the art program (levels and rewards below)!
The book will be full cover with amazing photography and creative illustrations. It’s scheduled release is Dec 8, 2026. Any support, small or large, is gratefully received.
Payments can be securely made through the above form. Alternatively, my Venmo handle is chris-smith-1982 (if you Venmo, please follow up with contact details). Feel free to reach out at 864-569-5101 or chrismith82@gmail.com for other payment options.
Within the USA and United Kingdom, all reward levels are inclusive of shipping and will take place in the fall-winter of 2026. Reward fulfillment outside of the USA and UK will require additional shipping charges, determined at fulfillment.
Reward Levels
Okra
A signed copy of The Whole Okra plus very limited edition okra-fiber, letterpress printed bookmark!
Seed
A signed copy of Saved by Seed, shipped in the first round of printing (fall/winter of 26) plus some stickers!
Combo
Get both books plus stickers while supporting some wonderful photography and illustrations!
Art
Get the COMBO plus a printed photo and printed illustration from the book.
Supporter
Supporters get the ART level rewards plus a named thank you in the acknowledgement section of my book, Saved by Seeds.
Patron
Patrons get the SUPPORTER level plus any reasonable requests! I’ll teach a class, do a reading, come to a book club… Let’s talk.
About the Book
Saved by Seed: Embracing Diversity, Adaptation and Resilience is Chris Smith’s second book. Saved by Seeds is primarily a book about seed saving. It’s full of practical information, photographs, and illustrations. But it’s also a book that encourages everyone to take a deeper look at seeds and our relationships with them.
During 2025 I spent most early mornings working on the manuscript for Saved by Seeds. It was a joy, a challenge, a marathon, an adventure, a confusing and complex and creative tangle of research papers, books, deep thinking, talking, reading, listening. My deadline was Dec 15, 2025 and the manuscript is currently in the hands of my incredible editor, Fern Bradley (who I worked with on The Whole Okra).
At some point in February the manuscript will come back to me for edits, but in the meantime I’m focused on the art program for the book.
Peter Taylor is the award winning photographer who took many of the stunning photographs I used in The Whole Okra. He was top of my list to capture the beauty of seeds and the people who work with them. I already have some of the photography from the growing season last year, and am excited for our next photo shoot.
The other aspect of the art program is illustrations. Leeza Chen is Farm Manager at Utopian Seed Project and a talented artist, she is working on a collection of illustrations to bring some of the technical and conceptual parts of the book to life. I’m excited to share her work with you all!
