Biography

Richo Cech started his professional work as an archaeologist and ethnobotanist in East Africa. Upon his return to the United States in 1978, he began cultivating and saving the seed of medicinal plants. Over the years, his gardens have become the basis for Strictly Medicinal Seeds, growers of organic, open pollinated and GMO-free seeds and plants of medicinal herbs, aromatics, succulents and permaculture perennials. Richo and his family produce a popular yearly, hand-illustrated seed catalog that provides access to this collection of common, quirky, eclectic, and bizarre seeds and plants. His books include “Making Plant Medicine” (2000), “Growing At-Risk Medicinal Herbs” (2002/2017), and “Growing Plant Medicine” (2022). Richo is an expert in domestication of wild plants, has botanized worldwide, and is responsible for the introduction of scores of medicinal herb species including Andrographis, Artemisia annua, Ashwagandha and Ashitaba, to mention just the “A’s.” These days, on his farm in Williams, Oregon he continues to grow diverse seed crops, harvesting and planting seeds every day, with faith and love.