Found in most types of grassland as well as on waste/disturbed ground. Globular clusters of flowers on long stalks; usually off-white or pale pink. The leaflets usually have a pale chevron shape near the base. First published in 1987, and providing a snapshot of British garden plants and trends for more than 30 years, the RHS Plant Finder is a horticultural bible. And so inspired by reading your book, digging into your book, I sort of tried to take a mental tour around my garden of the native plants and filter which ones were edible or medicinal, or that I thought were, and I bet many more are that I don’t even know. I’ve been foraging the edible weeds in my yard for years now and love knowing that a basic familiarity with edible wild plants means I can supplement our produce supply with lots of exciting wild greens and edible flowers. It’s a great way to eat seasonally, and it helps us get all sorts of valuable plant compounds we wouldn’t otherwise.

Even after you’ve taken classes, you’ll want some good books on foraging to consult from time to time, either to remind yourself of a plant you haven’t seen in awhile, or to help you explore new plants or identify those you don’t already know. I love flipping through the larger books to learn about plants I don’t yet have in my foraging repertoire. Margaret: Yeah. There’s a few more I just want to ask you about it in the last few minutes just because, for instance, as I said, I just have been enjoying not just the book but also some of your YouTube videos. You did one about bee balm, the red bee balm, the red Monarda. And I didn’t know, for instance, that you say in New Jersey, where you are and where you do a lot of your field work, it’s not a common plant. And yet it’s such a common garden plant. It’s often a beginner’s… I call it a confidence-booster because it sort of spreads and grows and makes you think you’re a great gardener, but it’s not a common plant. Common in damp deciduous woodland and other shady places as well as unmanaged grassland. Forms long stems with rosettes of green-purplish leaves and blue flowers marked with white. While some of the books above include a smattering of mushrooms, if you’re planning to delve into mushroom hunting, it’s best to study up on them carefully. Below are a couple highly-regarded books for would-be mushroom foragers. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms It’s time to expand our vision past supporting birds, butterflies, and bees, and fully integrate the most challenging animal of all, the human being, into our native plant gardens,” he writes.

Likes dry, disturbed places such as waste ground, railways, walls and roofs. Long sprays of purple, white or lilac flowers; a favourite of butterflies. Toward the bottom of this post you’ll find recommendations for excellent books on foraging that can teach you how to find and use the medicinal plants growing all around us.

These are mostly plants already growing in our tiny edible yard, and it’s a lot to keep up with, along with all the food we’ve planted there! I would go foraging further afield if I needed to and had time to spare. I occasionally harvest elderflowers, elderberries, and more purslane when I’m out getting veggies at our CSA. Jared: Look where that got us. Yeah. So one of the things that reaches out to me and is so fascinating and fun and also a deep connection is using these plants for food again. These are amazing, delicious, highly nutritive foods that people relied on for thousands of years on this continent. And we can link ourselves in this deep emotional way of reliance on our native plant species if they can become our sustenance again.For images of, and information on, 800+ Irish wildflowers (flowering times, ID tips and distribution in Ireland), try Irish Wildflowers. Margaret: One of the things about the… I hate to use a word like useful, because that’s obviously not what I mean, because they’re useful in such deeper ways, but the plants that we could utilize as foodstuffs or medicines or whatever, or, as you say, in crafting, that… Likes banks, woods, gardens and walls. Purple flowers with lighter stripes on petals. Whole plant may sometimes turn red.

Common in hedges and verges as well as in woodland. White flowers with five petals, split halfway to the base. Sprawling with narrow leaves. For a compact foraging guide you can carry on foraging expeditions that still covers a good range of plants, consider Elias and Dykeman’s Edible Wild Plants or one of the smaller guides covering your region, like those by Teresa Marrone, both described in the entries below. Likes slightly damp soil in woods, fields and churchyards. Yellow flowers on long stalks and glossy heart-shaped leaves. Many of these valuable plants are also extremely useful for making simple home remedies for everything from bug bites to coughs and colds. Others are useful for supporting the immune system or alleviating stress. I’m constantly astounded how many plants growing in our yards can be put to use in the natural home apothecary. Margaret: Right. So two of the things I think about when you’re talking about that are two that are… They’re “edible,” but not at the wrong time and not in the wrong condition or whatever. Two fall fruits that I have a lot of both in the garden, the aronias, which the word choke, for chokeberry, they call it?Fairly common in moist, shady woodland (deciduous). Low growing/sprawling with yellow star-shaped flowers. I hope these suggestions help you find the best books on foraging for your next wild food adventure!