Well, I wouldn’t really claim to be the leader, as that must be Paul Barney of Edulis nursery in the UK!! However, I do believe that the emphasis of plant hunting expeditions should change to greater focus on edible and useful plants, rather than just ornamentals. After all, more than 50% of members of the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK state that edible gardening is most important to them and all of them EAT!
This article was written by my friend Joan Bailey who lives, works and gardens outside of Tokyo and has a nice blog: http://www.japanfarmersmarkets.com
She was also the first to review my book for Permaculture Magazine: http://www.permaculture.co.uk/book-reviews/around-world-80-plants
We met for a chat early in April 2016 on the day we visited the underground Udo caverns in Tachikawa, a suburb of Tokyo (I still have to blog about that amazing day!). The picture Joan used of me in the article shows me with the underground udo farmer!!
http://metropolisjapan.com/more-than-cherry-blossoms
Thanks, Joan!!