The Guardian had the nice idea to embed a reporter in a seed collecting trip by the Millennium Seed Bank’s leadership and local partners in Botswana, but the end result is a bit disappointing. Despite Tim Adams’ valiant attempts to bring out the fascination, romance and thrill of plant hunting, along with the logistical challenges and politics of it all, I was just not engaged, I’m sorry to say. Maybe it was the glib, slightly sarcastic, slightly condescending tone. Or maybe I’m just misreading the thing. Maybe I’m just over-reacting to the now ritual comparison of Kew’s operation with the totally different Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Maybe I should just shut up and let you read the piece and decide for yourself.