You ask...I deliver.
Here are my favorites. There are others, but these have really worked for me.
There are two kinds of wild food books.
One is the very dry but informative field guide.
My favorite is Peterson's.
They also have an Edible Herb Guide which is great.This book gives you the finer details...what the leaves look like,
size of the flower...etc. Identification stuff. This is what you want to
have with you in the field when you need to examine plants.
The second type of book is more of a lifestyle with wild food book.
Here are the two that I have come to love instantly.
Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons:
This book is GREAT. He has other ones too that are also good. Start with this.Euell is just an amazing guy. Really great and fun reading.
And one that I really like (especially because this guy is from
the Great Lakes area of the US, is "The Forager's Harvest" by Samuel Thayer.
There are other books that are going to be more beneficial for yourbio-region (Courtney this would apply to you...:) )
These books talk about actually going out and foraging.
Good stories abound about their encounters with these edibles.
I love both books.
One book that I have to recommend against is
Peter Ragnar's "Alive and Well with Wild Foods".
HUGE RIP-OFF. He charges $50 dollars for this, and
claims that its a great 400 page book full of info.
I was a sucker and bought it, only to find that the only reason
its 400 pages is because the text is so large my 100 year old grandma
could read it. If you have money to burn and want to give more of it
to Peter Ragnar, go right ahead, but the 3 wonderful books mentioned
above are all you would need (unless you need something more specific to your
local environment). No one that has actually read this book of Ragnar's could
debate this with me. I felt very ripped off. There was some good info in there,
but overall it has very little to do with identifying and living off of wild food.
I know there are many Ragnar groupies out there, but you cant deny the fact
that this book is a huge rip off with gigantic text and crappy pictures.
I would get the books on Amazon, no tax and free shipping.
Always here to help!
-Anthony
10 comments:
Hi there, I am totally enjoying your blog, complete inspiration for me and my wife, thank you so much, this really helps people like me and the missus who are just now getting into raw foods, and the're awesome.
I wonder if I can ask you for some advice on how to keep raw foods simple ???
you can find me at un_hidalgo@hotmail.com
Thanx for all you have given
Val
Foraging is the best! I've been hesitant to do it too much in the city though, but then I thought what the heck if Anthony can do it in NY I can certainly do it in Copenhagen! So I went to this semi-wild old park today and whatdoyaknow I went home with a huge bag of nettles, sticky willies, platain and dandelion.. and a huge smile on my face;)
Thanks for all the great info you out there, your blog is a GREAT read!
Looking forward to more permaculture videos:)
Hugs
Tanja
If anyone is wanting another opinion, check out this book. I know Tony doestn have it but I have read all of the above and this is by far my favorite..... http://northerntrailspress.com/abundant.htm It has great picture, descriptions, advice, and recipes. It also does a great job at identifying species that look like the one you are foraging for so you know the dangerous look a likes. One thing to keep in mind when getting into foraging though....make sure you have multiple references. I would say 3different foraging books is a good number. Like Tony said, some are good for identification and some are more knowledge based. Start simple, become an expert at a few per year and before you know it you are an expert on 20 different wild foods in 4 or 5 years.
rofl about the grandma comment! Thanks for those books recommendations!
Hola Anthony,
I've been eating wild dandelion greens...and I'm pretty certain that I found some nettle today that I had in a salad. (It really looked like nettle. Hope it was. Looked it up online.) Thanks for these book recommendations and all the inspiration. Awesome.
Peace,
Tash
Merci beaucoup, this really helps!!
Hi. I missed your blog for three days because of computer issues. It is funny how I am immersed picking strawberries in my best friend's inlaw's backyard, I'm picking black berries from the tree at George Mason U then I'm foraging for wild dandelion. Lastly on the same day I come to work to see my co-workers eat Mcdonalds. So gross.
Okay on the raw resturaunts. Raw seems to taste best when it is homemade. Raw Restauranteurs are entrepreneurs. It seems as if there is a higheracrhy of raw foods and dehydrated food and starchy raw food isn't up there.
I am personally in a transition right now but I feel as if I have tapped into something powerful. It's a salad. No really it's a raw salad. It is cacao. It is green. So even on a raw foods diet, you don't feel energized and reved up to go on dehydrated or starchy raw foods. You get that immediate rush on a gorgeous raw salad.
Ok. I invented a salad and I was jumping up and down and being excited. Woah! My sister and I ate this salad and we were laughing and jumping up and down. So that is why I call it Happy Salad. Please Please try it and let me know how you feel. Let me know if you get high like we did.
HAPPY SALAD:
ingredients (quantity (to your discretion)
dandelion
leaf lettuce
plum tomatoes (organic)
purple onion(farmers market)
parsley(organic)
avacado (chopped)
tumeric
walnuts
1 jalepeno pepper
sea salt
cold pressed xtra virgin olive oil
lemon juice
lime juice
edible flowers (3-5 flowers include pansies or whatever)
celery seeds
chop all ingredients except for flowers put into bowl.
take walnuts put into food processer. drizzle 2-3 oz of olive oil. Sprinkle sea salt, tumeric and celery seeds and diced jalepeno. Turn on food processer and mix till chunky and well combined.
Scoop out walnut pate with a spatula and place on salad. Mix the salad and enjoy!
books I got keep wild: Peterson Wild Plants , Petersons Field Guides Venomous Animalas and Poisonous Plants (to keep me safe), Bradford Angiers Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants- thanks Aaron for advice and I enjoy your comments to- if I saw a bunch of you in person I could go for hours and hours. Thanks ANthony for caring. It makes the world less alienating to have you in it. You are a jewel. Rebeka aka Beki
Anthony,
If it weren't for you, it would have taken me so much longer to go raw than it has. Raw is so wonderful!
Furthermore, I wouldn't be so informed. You have inspired me to inform myself more and get going with my own project as soon as possible!
Thank you from the bottom of my Heart of Hearts. Have a most beautiful day!
Peace,
Tash
Saw you in an Acura print ad in "Runner's World" (?) magazine yesterday..nice profile shot. Keep up the good work..all of it! Best.
thanks so much anthony. so grateful. i am going to see if my library has a copy of one of the books.
cheers!!
mila ^____^
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