A singular and unambiguous clue to location is provided in Nephi’s account of his family’s efforts to establish an agrarian base in their new land. When his father’s family left the Jerusalem area he records that “we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind” (1 Ne. 8:1). And then some ten years later when the family landed in their new location on the North American continent he stated that “we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance” (1 Ne. 18:24). Note that not only the seeds “grew exceedingly,” but that “all” their seeds were planted. There was no second chance for success if the first year’s crops failed. And later when Nephi and part of his extended family were forced to leave the families of Laman and Lemuel and journey many days to another location, he records “we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance” (2 Ne. 5:11). And some 400 years later Zeniff states that in the land of Lehi-Nephi they “began to till the ground, yea, even with all manner of seeds, with seeds of corn, and of wheat, and of barley, and with neas, and with sheum, and with seeds of all manner of fruits; and we did begin to multiply and prosper in the land” (Mosiah 9:9).

The successful planting and harvesting of transported seeds provides a little-noticed but powerful and significant clue to the Nephite location. Seeds can not just be gathered in one location and then planted anywhere in the world and be expected to “grow exceedingly.” The seeds might germinate in many locations, but only when the seeds are planted in an analogous location in terms of climate and soil (and climate is a major determiner of soil fertility) will they “grow exceedingly.” Plants and seeds today are classified according to climate zones and then sold according to the buyer’s planting and climate region. Examples of this agricultural challenge can be provided from the first European settlers in New England, Australia and other world locations. These early settlers suffered famine and privation for years until they could determine by trial and error what would best grow in the climate and soil of their new land, and where best to acquire suitable seeds and plants. To prevent starvation, food from elsewhere was transported long distances and at great expense. Lehi’s family did not have the benefit of trial and error or imported food. Their seeds either grew with the first planting or they didn’t. There was no second chance or a secondary source of food.

In the late 1800s, when the first European settlers in Alberta, Canada, planted wheat they had brought from warmer climates, it did not grow properly. Success with wheat production came only after one wheat farmer wrote to his brother in Russia and asked him to send a small quantity of wheat seed from the Moscow area. These imported Russian seeds grew exceedingly and became the seed stock for much of the wheat grown in Alberta today. The climate of the Moscow region, of course, is an analog to the climate of the wheat growing area of Alberta. The critical story behind the mutiny on the Bounty saga was not the mutiny of the crew, but the aborted mission of transporting bread fruit plants (and their seeds) on the ship Bounty from the tropical south Pacific island climates to areas of the same climate in the Caribbean islands. The crops of the introduced bread fruit plants were intended by the British to help eliminate wide-spread starvation. Commercial production of Kiwi fruit and Granny Smith apples started in New Zealand decades ago in growing areas classified by climatologists as Marine West Coast climates. Now seeds of these southern hemisphere plants produce these same commercial fruit products in the identical Marine West Coast climate of the State of Washington. Even today, groups espousing the theory of global warming, and fearing its consequences, are stockpiling seeds from around the world in cold storage locations in Norway, at the cost of tens of millions of dollars. By this means they hope to protect the world’s seed stock and then redistribute seeds to world areas when climate change prevents the successful planting from a local inventory of seeds.

Again, it is significant to note that the climate of Baja California provides a close match to the climate of the land of Jerusalem. Thus the seeds brought by the Nephites from the land of Jerusalem would have been planted in an analogous environment where they could “grow exceedingly.” If grapes, figs and barley grew well in the land of Jerusalem, they potentially would grow just as abundantly and successfully in the Nephite’s new homeland of Baja California.