The Flavors of Home by Margit Roos-Collins

An important book for any wild food library. Essential if you are from the western coast. In fact, no matter where you are in North America, you could benefit from this book. There is even a really good 25 page section on pacific coast sea vegetables. The reason this book is so good is that Margit is knowledgeable and honest. She explains about each plant, tells you what she used it for, and how she prepared it. She gives you valuable tips, tells you what worked for her and what did not. ...

October 5, 2015

Edible And Useful Plants 0f California by Charlotte Bringle Clarke

Edible and Useful Plants of California by Charlotte Bringle Clarke

An important book for a wild food library. Essential if you are from the Southwestern United States. After Gibbons seminal works from 1962 - 1966 many people were inspired to learn and then write about wild foods. Of the many books coming out in the 70's, Clarke's stood out. Covering 200 plants, having 46 color photos, and many fairly accurate line drawings, the book tells us of Native American uses, and plant lore in a clear and concise way. For most plants, she gives a recipe or two based ...

October 5, 2015

Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains by H.D. Harrington

Essential if you are from the Rocky Mountains. In fact, no matter where you are in North America, you could benefit from this book. About 1/3 of the plants are unique to the US Rocky Mountains, about 1/3 apply to anywhere west of the Rockies and about 1/3 are found anywhere in North America. The reason this book is so good is that Harrington is knowledgeable and honest. He explains a lot about each plant, tells you what he used it for, and how he prepared it. He gives you valuable tips, ...

October 5, 2015

Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants In Wild and Not So Wild Places by Steve Brill

An important book for a wild food library. "Wildman" Steve Brill was made famous when he was arrested in Central Park for pulling weeds to teach people about edible wild plants. He eventually went on to be a Park Naturalist for a while and published this book on wild foods. Like others in this section, this book is good because Steve is knowledgeable, honest, and speaks from experience. He explains a lot about each plant, tells you what he used it for, and how he prepared it. He gives you ...

October 5, 2015

The Neighborhood Forager: Finding and Preparing Delicious Wild Foods Anywhere by Robert K. Henderson

The Neighborhood Forager by Robert Henderson

There are books that cover the east, books that cover the west, and Young's book here which covers everything in between. The range of this book spans the area bordered by the Rocky Mountains in the west to the deciduous forests of the east, the Texas panhandle in the south to the north in Canada. The actual range of this book goes far beyond the Great Plains. 80% of the plants in this book are found in eastern North America, 25% are found to the west of the Rockies, and perhaps 15% are ...

October 5, 2015

Wild Seasons - Gathering and Cooking Wild Plants of the Great Plains by Kay Young

Wild Seasons by Kay Young

October 5, 2015

Books by Euell Gibbons

Gibbons books are an important component of any great wild food library. In some ways Gibbons books have been usurped by the first three books in our "All-in-One" category. But in other ways and in some areas Gibbons research, experimentation, and play will always be worth reading. He reports knowledge based on experience. When I can't find information elsewhere, I check to see what Gibbons did. The ingenuity of his 'vegetarian mayapple chiffon pie incorporating whipped mallow will amaze and ...

October 5, 2015

Nature's Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer

Nature’s Garden by Samuel Thayer

An important book for a wild food library. I wish I had Sam's books when I was first getting started with wild foods—my life would have been easier. He has continued to produce some great work and good coverage of a wide variety of plants. At 512 pages Nature's Garden is a great value. One of the reasons I love Sam's books is that we think alike, have recognized many of the same problems in the wild food literature, and have similar solutions to problems we encounter. That is a good ...

October 5, 2015

The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer

The Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer

An important book for a wild food library. Imagine a wild food book whose author actually has lots of experience with the plants he talks about! And on top of this he is creative and practical — solving problems one might encounter gathering and making these plants into food. Welcome to Sam's world. Like Euell Gibbons, Sam devotes a revealing and memorable chapter to each plant, contributing lots of new and useful information. Going beyond Euell, he illustrates his book with lots of ...

October 5, 2015