Advice on a foraging book.

[High on Hex]

Morning all!
I'm looking for a field guide on edible wild plants. When i hike i take the usual rice, noodles, oatmix etc and supplement this with other common plants i pass.
The books i've bought in the past are either too big to carry being full of recipes for making jams or the pictures have been drawn by a blind man with a blunt pencil.
What I'm after is a small and clear field guide detailing only plants that are often found in the UK, are worth eating nutritionally and require little or no preparation. Does anyone know if such a book exists?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Alistair.

 

[xylaria]

What i do is mark in a proper field guide what plants can be eaten, that way the ID is correct. How to cook it can be learnt in the field. A lot of edible plants are common weeds, that can be picked form common patches of green stuff ( railway sidings, paths, parkland), so you can pick and work out reciepes at home, and then try cooking when out.

 

[High on Hex]

Hi Xylaria, thanks for the reply. You've got me thinking more about what it is i really need. I know some of the more common edibles, I just want to check my IDs of the ones i'm not entirely sure about or remind myself how many water changes whilst boiling etc. I'm trying to avoid the weight of a guide to all wild plants or relying on my own memory, which invariably ends in chaos, disaster or a near-death experience.
It may well be that such a book doesn't exist and i may have to resort to research and page laminating!
All the best,
Alistair.

 

[Allie]

I have Richard Mabey's 'Food For Free' in the Collins Gem version so it's the perfect size - is that the kind of thing you mean? If you've been looking around I expect you've already come across it, so possibly not..

 

[High on Hex]

Hiya Allie, I've got the full size version. I haven't seen the mini one. What i want is that sort of thing but more 'grab it and eat it' than 'start by constructing a millstone...'
I'm more into lightweight hiking and camping than foraging, it's just nice to add a bit of fresh greens to the menu. I'l look out for the collins gem, if it leans the right way it might be usefull. Thanks a lot.
Alistair.

 

[philaw]

I have Richard Mabey's 'Food For Free' in the Collins Gem version as well, and it does what it says on the tin.

 

[Allie]

Hiya Allie, I've got the full size version. I haven't seen the mini one. What i want is that sort of thing but more 'grab it and eat it' than 'start by constructing a millstone...'
I'm more into lightweight hiking and camping than foraging, it's just nice to add a bit of fresh greens to the menu. I'l look out for the collins gem, if it leans the right way it might be usefull. Thanks a lot.
Alistair.

It's about the size of a pack of cards.. Although a bit bigger. If you do decide it's what you want (I expect it's more brief than the large size?) I found mine Waterstones on special offer..

 

[chickenofthewoods]

IMHO there are lots of far better ones than Mabey's book, but most aren't as portable. I'd say it was useful for a starting point, but if you really get into wild foods one book will never be enough.

To date I've got a collection topping 60 plus - that's culinary uses, annotated field guides & the ones that cover medicinal plants as well.

I avoid field guides that are illustrated, and try to get something with good clear photographs, especially if they give some idea of scale. Like Xylaria, I also mark my field guides. I use a colour coded system that gives me edibility and toxicity at a glance.

Whatever book you choose, remember to make sure that you learn well what will harm you as well as those that will feed you.

 

[IntrepidStu]

IMHO there are lots of far better ones than Mabey's book, but most aren't as portable. I'd say it was useful for a starting point, but if you really get into wild foods one book will never be enough.

To date I've got a collection topping 60 plus - that's culinary uses, annotated field guides & the ones that cover medicinal plants as well.

I avoid field guides that are illustrated, and try to get something with good clear photographs, especially if they give some idea of scale. Like Xylaria, I also mark my field guides. I use a colour coded system that gives me edibility and toxicity at a glance.

Whatever book you choose, remember to make sure that you learn well what will harm you as well as those that will feed you.

Any chance of telling us the title of one of these 60 books??

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Weeeellll.... You did ask.

So here's some of them. Please note though that none of the following are listed in recommendation and any additional comments are for information only. Some may be old and out of print (and so more difficult to get hold of), however they all have their merits in my humble opinion. Let's start with the one everyone's heard of.

Food for Free by Richard Mabey
Publisher: Collins (1 Oct 2001) ISBN: 0002201593

Certainly the best known foraging book - but not the first ever to be published on the subject.... For example:

'The Wild Foods of Great Britain' - L. Cameron (70's facsimile re-issue).

A foraging manual written well before Richard Mabey became God.

Bear in mind this book was originally written in 1917 so at nearly 100 years old you'd be forgiven for wondering if it has any relevance to today. There are precious few pictures to guide you (simple engravings being the only occasional adornment - but latin names given can be used to cross reference), while some of the foods mentioned may now be on endagered lists, whilst others (cooked cabbage white larvae, for example) might not be immediately appealing at all!

However, in spite of its age I really like this book (which is remarkably comprehensive), partly because it doesn't just settle for wild plants, but covers pretty much the entire spectrum: fish, fowl, animal and vegetable (even insect!) - but also because it's a view back into the past and books like this often contain snippets of info that have otherwise become lost from later works. So I enjoy the lure of the chase sifting through and tracking those little grains that can point me towards some new (old) knowledge!

It is difficult to distil the essence of this book easily though, I do like it and have enjoyed it so consider it money well spent in my terms. But I can also see that many won't and I doubt that it's a book that I could honestly recommend to anyone other than perhaps an old hand, hard core forager who also has an interest in history.

I guess what I'm saying is this is worth looking out for but one to thumb through before you commit to buy.

Smoked Badger Ham, anyone?

They Can't Ration These - Vicomte de Mauduit
The Book Club. Circa 1941
One of the Holy Grails of foraging literature. Wonderfully comprehensive listing of all things foragable and an important piece of social history too.

The Essential Nettle, Dandelion, Chickweed and Thistle Cookbook by Johnny Jumbalaya
Publisher: Johnny Jumbalaya (Jun 2003) ISBN: 0954415817

The Essential Backpacker's Wild Food Cookbook by Johnny Jumbalaya
Publisher: Johnny Jumbalaya (Aug 2004) ISBN: 0954415833

The Essential Hedgerow and Wayside Cookbook by Johnny Jumbalaya
Publisher: Johnny Jumbalaya (Dec 2003) ISBN: 0954415825

The ACORN, Hazelnut &c. Cookbook by Johnny Jumbalaya
How to transform acorns and other similar wild nuts into edible food. [ISBN 0 9544158 7 6]

The Really Wild Food Guide: Or 350+ Ways to Wok the Wild by Johnny Jumbalaya Publisher: Johnny Jumbalaya (Dec 2002) ISBN: 0954415809

These books all from the same author, are for fairly hard-core foraging fanatics, or anyone looking for 'interesting' culinary experiments.

Wild Food (Natural History Photographic Guides) by Roger Phillips
Publisher: Pan (9 Sep 1983) ISBN: 0330280694

Some consider these books by Roger Phillips to be the very best you can get of their kind. They're certainly very good, but unfortunately not pocket sized!

Mushrooms by Roger Phillips
Publisher: Macmillan (18 Aug 2006) ISBN: 0330442376

This is the most recent edition from Phillips - it is updated from the original (shown below), but there are die hards who still prefer the older publication.

Mushrooms and Other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe by Roger Phillips, Lyndsay Shearer, Derek Reid (Editor), Ronald Rayner (Editor) - Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Pan (14 Aug 1981)
ISBN: 0330264419

The first mushroom/fungi book from Phillips and many still believe it to be the best - however, I'd never personally rely on just one fungi guide - but then that's me.

The Encyclopedia of Fungi of Britain and Europe by Michael Jordan
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Publishers (1 Sep 2004)
ISBN: 0711223793

A bit hard going, but it is comprehensive and has the added advantage of pictures taken in the field, not the studio. It is a very large book though, and again, hardly a 'field' guide.


Antonio Carluccio Goes Wild - Antonio Carluccio
The Complete Mushroom - Antonio Carluccio
Two enthusiastic, informative, recipe oriented books. They make you want to get out there with your basket.

Now Cook Me the Fish - Margaret Butterworth
Country Life Books. Circa 1950
146 freshwater fish recipes. Fairly basic details, but interesting and quite varied.

The Compleat Angler's Wife - Suzanne Beedell
Countryside Books. Circa 1964
A complete guide to cooking the angler's catch.
Covers a broad range of freshwater and sea fish, including shellfish, crayfish and lobster.

Country Wines & Cordials - Wild Plant and Herbal Recipes for Drinks Old & New - Wilma Patterson. Omega Books 1983

Because of its date you'd be best to double check some of the plant info for current thinking before following the recipes, but makes for a very interesting read & is a nice little book.
Worth looking out for IMHO.

Eyewitness Handbooks - Mushrooms
By Thomas Laessoe
Dorling Kindersley
ISBN 0-7513-1070-0

'A visual guide to over 500 species of mushroom from around the world.'

This is a superb, clear well laid out book in the typical and well regarded DK reference style. It doesn't cover every single fungi you're likely to find (or want to find!), but the clarity of the explanations for important identification features such as gills, cap shapes, stem etc. make it worth having even if it were for those alone and there are still plenty of fungi that are listed in it to keep you busy. I'd be happy to let our daughter loose with it (she's 8), & have been very impressed with it - the only trouble is, it's really hard (and expensive) to get hold of in the UK!

Occasionally though, one does turn up on Ebay. Or you might be able to order it through Amazon if you can find it at an affordable price.

Living in a Wild Garden - Roger Banks
World's Books Ltd.

Banks is an illustrator, and this book is packed full of his very attractive work. Part story of his purchase of an old tumbledown Scottish estate back in the 60's, part ramble through the history and use of the wild plants he and his wife found and also encouraged to grow there.

I really enjoy this book. It makes you read it from cover to cover, because Banks buries his information in the story and you have to find it, it makes you pay attention. This isn't a book for the impatient - if you want a quick reference work - best to look elsewhere - but if you like a gentle yarn that'll teach you something along the way, this is an excellent read. Just keep a notepad handy to jot down stuff while you're doing it - it's that sort of book!

A Country Harvest - Pamela Michael
Peerage Books
ISBN 1-85052-070-4

'An illustrated Guide to Herbs and Wild Plants including Delicious recipes, herbal remedies and beauty treatments.'

This is a really carefully thought out work, from the seasonal listings inside the cover to give you a rough guide of what you could be looking for, to the 90 well illustrated plants with their uses and recipes listed by latin and common name.

Although this, and the Roger Banks books are both older publications I'd say they were well worth seeking out and snapping up if you find them.(There has been a recent re-issue of Pamela Micheal's book so you should be able to find it easily on Amazon).

A Concise Guide in Colour - Herbs
Hamlyn ISBN 0 600 31681 5

Now out of print. Covers a really broad range of wild plants and including some in cultivation too. Gives details of medicinal qualities, harvesting and preparation techniques, distribution etc. Colour illustrations.

A good little hardbacked book, well worth seeking out - I've seen it selling for a little as 1p on Amazon UK.

Wild Food For Free - Jonathan HIlton (2007)

This book has several photographs of each specimen (Tends to be of blossom, fruit and whole tree or plant in its habitat and close up of the leaves) but the thing I like most about it is the fact that each plant section is divided into sections with "What is it?", "What to look for", "Can be mistaken for", "Where to look", "When to look for it", "what does it taste like?" and "How is it used". It works on the KIS principle (keep it simple).

Easy Wild Food Guide - Neil Fletcher (2007)

This one has a combination of photographs and drawings and is very helpfully split up into what you can find in the different seasons. My favourite thing about it though is that it has a LOT of different seaweeds and seafood like razor clams, mussels, limpets and other shellfish which the other books don't seem to have making it useful on the shoreline.

Living off Nature - Judy Urquhart
Pub: Allen Lane
1980

This is great little book. Part history, part experience, part anecdotal & packed with stuff to keep you occupied on a broad array of foraging woodcraft & survival topics -
Food
Drink
Smoking/snuff mixes
Shelter
Containers
Tools and utensils
Raw materials
Writing
Time & motion
Clothes & clothing
Grooming
Health

Being over 30 years old you have to keep in mind that not everything is going to be do-able now, nevertheless it's still fast becoming one of my favourite reads from the bookshelf.

OK. That's not all of them by any means but it should be plenty to keep you occupied for a while!

 

[IntrepidStu]

Now thats what I call a list. Nice one!!!

 

[philaw]

Chickenofthewoods, just how did you get such a a comprehensive knowledge of the subject? Are you a biology professor, or what? Oh, and well done. People will be able to find and use that post for years to come.

 

[High on Hex]

Cheers Chickenofthewoods looks like some serious effort went into that. Very useful thanks

 

[JonnyP]

Mrs chicken...Thank you for taking the time to write all that. Some I haven't heard of there. 60 is a good amount of books, I reckon I only have 20 to 30..

Alistair...There are so many plants out there, and many that look very similar too. It would be very dificult to produce a small field guide that would fit in your pocket and would give you good pictures and a good discription of each plant, as well as uses for it... It certainly would not be comprehensive. Even a good ID field guide would be pretty big, like Francis Rose's Wild flower key. You may be better off getting a book that contains a bit of info on a few plants like the collins gem, food for free and taking a good ID field guide too... Or you could just take your camera and note book and put the photo's up on here (or any wildlife forum etc) and cross reference with the suggestions, with your books, or a good online guide like this site.. http://www.floralimages.co.uk/

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Seriously embarassed now.

I wish I were a biologist or something, but I'm just a housewife with a lifelong 'thing' for wild plants & their uses. Even more embarassingly, that's just a fraction of the titles I have collected that are either specifically about, or linked to the subject.

It all began with an old battered book of my dad's that I found when I was little:

The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore by Ernest Thompson Seton (circa 1912)

It's terribly gung ho, jolly and patriotic as you might expect from the era it dates from, but it fascinated me. Especially the bits about plants/fungi and survival techniques. As a kid I loved this book to death. Seriously!

Probably not your average reading matter for a 7 year old girl at the time, but what the hey it gave me a lifelong hobby to enjoy so cheers Ernest!

If you really want to be bored, I'll try to post some of the other titles as I get the chance although that means raiding the bookshelves....

Now, back on topic. Alistair, follow jonnys advice. Find a wild food guide that you like the feel of, and also a good clear field guide that you can make some notations in. And don't forget to post any pics you take here so that we can all admire & discuss them.

Good luck!

 

[redandshane]

Thanks very much for that list chickenofthewoods
I have duly ordered Living off Nature - Judy Urquhart
should sit quite nicely beside my other favourites Tracker and Northern Bushcraft

 

[chas brookes]

Hi
have a look at Marcus's Web site

http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/wfs/index.htm

it has lots of usefull recipes as well as book list, his guided walk at the Bushmoot two years ago was excellent