Edible Wild Plants (Celebrity Chefs Love Them!)

Wild plants that are edible are free!

 

foraging is freeIn my previous post on why it’s good to forage for food, I noted that celebrity chefs have made wild plants popular again, and that even in big cities it’s possible to forage for wild plants for food.

And of course, foraging for wild plants is a wonderfully green and ecofriendly way to eat and protect the planet!

How To Be Safe When Foraging

Of course, safety is important.  To avoid danger, you need to know which are the wild plants that are edible.  And today, that’s easier than ever.

Your main options are:

  1. Buy a reference book and learn from it (see my recommendations below)
  2. Go on a course / guided walk to see how it’s done
  3. DIY option: Use a ‘foraging map’ and follow its route to find wild plants that are edible
  4. A combination of all or some of the above

Which method is best?  It depends on your preferred learning style.

  • If you prefer to be with a group, do a public course or walk and enjoy the company as much as the course.
  • If you prefer to learn by yourself, buy a book or a forage map and find wild plants that are edible without other distractions.

Here are my recommendations.

 Related:  My Top 10 Tips for Foraging

Courses & Walks to Find Wild Plants that are Edible

In the US:  For the New York area try Steve Brill’s site , or here for San Francisco foraging.  Visit http://foraging.com/ for a comprehensive listing of foraging experts county-wide.

In the UK visit Abundance London, it’s a super site with lots of foraging activities and pick-it-yourself forays.   See foraging courses throughout the UK to help you find wild plants that are edible.

Or simply search online for foraging and the name of your city, country or area, e.g. foraging Sydney or foraging courses in Luxembourg.

My Top Picks – Foraging Book Recommendations


Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods From Dirt To Plate
This book is great for beginners because it focuses on a limited number of plants.  Instead of being overwhelmed by choice, you can easily identify what you forage from the exceptionally clear photographs.  The color photos are the biggest advantage of this book, because they make identification so easy.  Based on North American wild plants that are edible, the book also includes helpful hints like the best season to pick each plant.  Plus there are wild plant recipes.


A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guides)
What I like about this book is that it details poisonous look-alikes of plants you may forage, so it’s great for safety.  Although it’s paperback, the covers are stiffened and that’s useful when it gets stuffed into a rucksack or opened with wet fingers!  The photographs and drawings are good, but not as clear as “Edible Wild Plants”, and it covers more species of plants.  It’s not as easy for a beginner to identify a particular plant from this book as it is with my first recommended book.  Therefore I think the Peterson Guide is better suited to more experienced foragers who need more information on a broader range of plants in Central and Eastern North America.

The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants
This book limits itself to a relatively small number of plants.  I like this book particularly for the author’s humour and wit.  He is also quite scathing about other authors who make careless mistakes or perpetuate common myths.  Everything in this book seems to have been ‘tried and tested’ by the author personally.  He lists plant species that he enjoys eating (to be honest, some plants are perfectly edible but don’t taste great), so you know the recipes he suggests will work.  Beginners will appreciate his hints on getting started with foraging, while more advanced foragers will probably feel this book is not enough for them.  It’s the first-hand knowledge that makes this book shine through.  Also appreciated are the pictures of the plants at different times of year, which makes identification much easier.

Choosing any one of these books, or any of the courses or walks above, will significantly improve your ability to safely find wild plants that are edible – and free!

Next:  Top 10 Tips for Foraging

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Warm regards,

signature Clare


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edible wild plants, forage, foraging, foraging for wild plants, free food with foraging, wild plants


  • I have two staff members that took a foraging class and they loved it. Every so often they go out and get their greens.

    Yours In Health!

    Dr. Wendy

  • I have used Peterson’s guides in the past and they are pretty good for identifying wild plants that are edible. I will have to look at the others. A foraging class is really helpful also. Plus you get to eat while learning.

    • Yes, I believe the Peterson’s Guides have a pretty sound reputation.
      Eating while learning is great, you’re right!

  • I must read some of your referenced works. I have used edible flowers in salads when attempting to be exotic. That is the extent of my harvesting the neighborhood.

    Lyle R. Johnson

  • Clare,

    thanks for recommending those resources. I mainly use wild greens in salads. But I can still use them in soups. I always prepare vegetable soup with all available vegetables at home.

  • I may have to give that a shot….show my daughters that a supermarket isn’t the start of it all.
    Thanks.
    Be Well.
    Jc

    • Hugely important! When I was growing up I had no clue about the more exotic stuff. I thought bananas grew in the crates in which they arrived off the cargo ships!

  • Thanks for moreinformation on foraging.One of the local hotels uses only organic and locally grown produce and has just begun offering a foraging tour.
    Sonya Lenzo

    • That’s excellent news – but then of course Costa Rica has an enviable reputation for bring eco friendly!

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