Foraging for wild food.

elocs · Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:40 am Post subject: Foraging for wild food.

There was an author, Samuel Thayer, who was on Wisconsin Public Radio today ([url=wpr.org/larrymeiller/index.cfm?strDirection=Prev&dteShowDate=2006%2D08%2D23%2011%3A00%3A00]Wisconsin Public Radio]Wisconsin Public Radio]link[/url]) and he did a 45 minute program on wild food foraging. Here is his website: [url=foragersharvest.com]foragersharvest.com[/url]

He has a book, entitled, of all things, "The Forager's Harvest". Here is the description:

"The Forager's Harvest is a wild food book like no other. Drawing upon a lifetime of experience with edible wild plants, Sam Thayer shares his in-depth knowledge of foraging with the authority, enthusiasm, and humor that have captivated thousands. You'll gain an intimate understanding of all the plants in this book - where to find them, how to identify them, their seasons of harvest, and their methods of collection and preparation. The Forager's Harvest is the perfect guide for all experience levels.

The Guide Features:

* 218 color photos, demonstrating each edible part in the proper stage of harvest, plus showing important identifying features
* Step-by-step tutorial to positive plant identification
* Photos and text comparing potentially confusing plants
* Thorough discussion on how to gather and use the plants
* Detailed information on special harvest, preparation, and storage techniques
* A foraging calendar showing harvest times for wild foods
* A glossary of botanical terms illustrated with line drawings
* Bibliography and recommended reading list
* Index
* Durable, Smyth-sewn binding
* 368 6" x 9" pages

The Forager’s Harvest fills an enormous void in the wild food literature. Rather than cover hundreds of plants in abbreviated accounts like the typical field guide, the author has chosen a smaller selection of species to discuss in exhaustive detail, including only those plants he has eaten fifty times or more. This book contains as many as ten high-quality color photographs of each plant. These have been painstakingly selected to facilitate identification and depict the plant parts at exactly the stage of growth in which they should be harvested. The accompanying text is accurate and thorough, giving readers of any experience level the confidence to harvest wild plants for food. Botanically, the text is impeccably accurate - yet it remains accessible to the layperson by using technical terms only when necessary.

The Forager’s Harvest has many unique features that will appeal to naturalists, hikers, campers, survivalists, homesteaders, gardeners, chefs, Native Americans, and whole-food enthusiasts. The book contains a calendar of harvest times for wild produce, a step-by-step protocol for positive identification, an illustrated glossary tailored to the needs of foragers, a recommended reading list, plus special sections on conservation, safety, nutrition, harvest techniques, preparation methods, and storage. While The Forager’s Harvest is not a regional guide, it will prove most useful to readers in the eastern US and Canada, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Northwest."

eric_b · Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:50 am Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

You can also listen to the Wildman. I've grown fond of nettle tea, now unfortunately out of season where I live.

http://www.econetwork.net/~wildmansteve/

coyote · Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:55 pm Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

Good stuff, guys. Thanks.
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mikeh433 · Heavy Crude Joined: Jan 25, 2006 Posts: 201

I ordered this book right after you posted about it. Been sitting there for a couple weeks thinking I have too much other interesting stuff to read and will probably never read it until / unless I need to from hunger.

I read a few pages and am immediately impressed... philosophy and life and everything in this book. He started when he was only 4 years old and into it heavy by 14 years old.

Also I thought such a study would be good during drought like conditions when I walked through nearby forest and noticed all of the protective layers and how this forest seemed thriving and immune to bad environmental conditions.

Might be North America's best forager.

TheDude · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:37 am Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

Old Topic!

Ordered this book myself. Maybe foraging is the way to go? Or not a waste of time. Seems selfish/doomerish on the face of it, but any source of food that's out there may be needed.
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Cogito, ergo non satis bibivi
C'mon man, who're you gonna believe?

RedStateGreen · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:24 pm Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

I just took a foraging class; that's the best way to learn, as I find books don't often have good pictures of the plants. I also got involved with the local foraging group, so I can go on walks with them again to learn more.
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Conservation is conservative

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change. -- Charles Darwin

Jenab6 · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:12 am Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

My favorite three books on foraging.

1. The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants, Samuel Thayer, Pub. by Forager's Harvest (Samuel Thayer), 2nd printing, 2006, ISBN 0-9766266-0-8.

2. Peterson Field Guides: Edible Wild Plants of Eastern/Central North America, Lee Allen Peterson, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977, ISBN 0-395-92622-X.

3. Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Bradford Angier, Stackpole Books, 1974, ISBN 0-8117-2018-7.

kuidaskassikaeb · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:49 am Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

Just had a meal of Sheep sorrel, since it seems to be my most succesful crop. I used the method given in the Peterson field guide, which is boil for 3 minutes. It tasted like one would expect spinach to taste with lemon juice. I give it 3 stars.

allenwrench · Intermediate Crude Joined: Apr 23, 2008 Posts: 893

SILENTTODD · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 1:41 am Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

Thanks for this post elocs. I have gotten very interested in this recently. Had some experience as a scout 40 years ago eating Cat tail roots and termites (actually not too bad) for a merit badge I was earning. Recently found some old Euell Gibbons books on the Barnes & Noble used book site. But your suggestions are an added resource.
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truecougarblue · Heavy Crude Joined: Dec 21, 2005 Posts: 480

Anybody have a title for a book like these for the southwest?

My current list on the ranch from wil sources includes elderberry, acorns, stinging nettle, and amaranth. There are also wild grains in abundance but I haven't tried any of these yet.

Yesterday I threshed out a bit of grass seed from the kind of grass that goes to seed and gets "stickers" in your socks. It had a tiny soft black seed with a bland taste. I would expect nearly all grass seeds to be edible. Any exceptions?

pstarr · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 10:57 am Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

Ludi · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 11:02 am Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

truecougarblue · Heavy Crude Joined: Dec 21, 2005 Posts: 480

Thanks Ludi.

RedStateGreen · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject: Re: Foraging for wild food.

I love dandelions.

Not only are they everywhere, easy to identify, and every part is edible, but you can use them for so many different things:

- flowers: wine, decoration in salads (early in the spring, when it gets hot they get bitter), dye

- leaves: dye, great cooked with a ham bone just like any other greens

- root: dye, when roasted makes a good decaf substitute

Not to mention they're pretty, self-seed, and can grow during winter in many places.
_________________
Conservation is conservative

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change. -- Charles Darwin