Good book on wild edibles?

[Katrina-Sisu]

My family lives in the Southern USA and I was wondering if there are any good books on wild edible plants? Ones with pictures since I'm terrible with artist renditions?

Thanks!

(Oh if anyone knows one for Europe or Scandinavia that'd be awesome too.)

Katrina

[CarolAnn]

Katrina -
My favorites are by Euell Gibbons, although they're out of print now, you can often find used ones.

"Stalking the wild ..." was how his titles usually started out.

Here is a pretty good website, too:
http://community-2.webtv.net/Taimloyd/FORAGINGTHEEDIBLE/

The very best way to learn about wild edibles, though, is to ask around and see if you can find an older person who will go with you and show you whats good! You might be a little hesitant to do this - but you'll be amazed at the great knowledge you'll get. People that love to forrage usually love to share it with others! (Except maybe mushroom hunters who guard their secret patches like gold mines!!) ;)

[Katrina-Sisu]

Katrina -
My favorites are by Euell Gibbons, although they're out of print now, you can often find used ones.

"Stalking the wild ..." was how his titles usually started out.

Here is a pretty good website, too:
http://community-2.webtv.net/Taimloyd/FORAGINGTHEEDIBLE/

The very best way to learn about wild edibles, though, is to ask around and see if you can find an older person who will go with you and show you whats good! You might be a little hesitant to do this - but you'll be amazed at the great knowledge you'll get. People that love to forrage usually love to share it with others! (Except maybe mushroom hunters who guard their secret patches like gold mines!!) ;)

Awesome! Thanks for the link! :)

MIL picks wild mushrooms and she does guard her areas lol! She picks tons of berries too but she won't wear her glasses and so alot of the jam she makes still has buggies and stems but she's taught me some about raspberries too.

Thanks again!

Katrina

[CarolAnn]

Katrina -
If your mom-in-law leaves in the stems & bugs because she can't see them, maybe you can get her to change from jam to jelly - at least that kind of stuff stays in the jelly bag when you strain the juice!
;)

Why do they do that? My mom canned apples for me one year and she remarked "See those light spots? Those are worm eggs, but they're cooked - you won't even know they're there."

But after I DID know they were in there, darned if I could bring myself to use those apples! :P

[Katrina-Sisu]

Thanks CarolAnn, that's a great idea!

She gave us some berries and about every other one we opened had an insect or worm in it... :o Sometimes I'm not so back to nature as I think lol.

I don't know why lol, but MIL never fails to surprise me on that one. My one friend's MIL canned berry juice and was given some, she found a dead bumble bee in the bottom. Ack! lol

My mom says it's just extra protein lol :D

Kat

[wy0mn]

Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants, by Roger Tory Peterson is one of the best. It even gives listings of dangerous 'look alike' plants. Color plates, pen & ink drawings AND an easy to read text description for those of us who weren't botany majors.

[clarkshomestead]

I am a fungiphile. I love wild mushrooms. hunting them is as much fun to me as hunting wild game. When you find an excelent edible the excitement reminds me of hunting and finding arrowheads as a child. You just happen to be in the right place at the right time (which with studying the substrates they grow on and temperature and weather requirements you will find yourself in the right place at the right time more often). My favorite book for mushrooms is the Audubon Society's Guide To Mushrooms. Great photos, detailed discriptions, references to look-alikes (dangerous and otherwise) and even sporeprint color and microscopic spore details! Very easy to use. I've almost worn out my second copy from constant use. It costs about $20 but is WELL WORTH IT. Happy hunting bro.

[FirestarterKY]

I learned how to find asparagus last year!
Can't wait to go get it this year.
I got a book for christmas this year called "The complete guide to Edible wild plants, mushrooms, fruits and nuts"....best hing is they go into cooking them too!
Good pics.
Author, Katie Letcher Lyle.

Oh you all talking about mushrooms.....my step dad was a mushroom hunter brought them home all the time. *However, one time he messed up and got us really really really sick.
He felt really bad, poor fella.
I gathered a ton of back walnuts this year.....need to go outside sit and break for a few hours sometime very soon.
Had to gather the black walnuts, the hard frost got the pecans this year.
And this was suppose to be their year!
I wonder if they will go dormant this year as scheduled, even though they froze out.
We will see.
That will make 3 years without pecans....bummer!

[Mad_Professor]

Elias and Dykeman, Edible Wild Plants, a North American Field Guide; Sterling Publishing Co.: Ny Ny, 1990

QK98.5.U6E35 1990

ISBN 0-8069-7488-5

Best book I've found, illustrated, plants divided by seasons they are available, their home ranges, cooking/storage, nutritional content, a section on poisonous plants.

[CarolAnn]

Clark - one of my favorite mushrooms was called coral mushroom or spaghetti mushroom in Arkansas. They were mild and easy to identify - and I used to pick them by the SACK full! Up here in Wisconsin, it's morell season, but so much of the private land is posted No Trespassing -it's hard to find a good place to pick 'em here.

Katrina Sisu - one nice early addition to a salad for people living in the southern US is the very fresh growing tips of green briar. They taste like garden peas! If you can stand getting into it to pick them, it's a treat. (Easy to identify - think of a plant growing barbed wire!)