|
Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck
It is very difficult to find any one book that will give
all the the information you might like to know about any
particular plant. At the minimum a book on wild foods will
mention a plant's edibility. But that may not be enough. Do
you want to be able to identify the plant or its parts? Do
you want recipes? Detailed personal accounts of forager
experiences? The human-related or natural history of a
plant? Nutrient data? Medicinal uses? Toxicity? Other uses
besides food? Your interests will determine the kinds of
books you might want for your personal wild food
library.
Your Personal Wild Food Library
Is a collection of books and other educational resources
that have different strengths and weaknesses. If chosen
wisely, your books, taken together, will provide reasonable
coverage of any particular plant and its edibility. Most
books do not, by themselves, cover everything you need to
know to safely begin ingesting wild plants.
The study of wild foods brings together the fields of
botany, nutrition, food preparation, food toxicology, and
historical foodways. Authors cannot know everything and
occasionally will get things wrong, give dangerous
perspectives, or even fail to warn you that dandelion greens
are bitter! But you can safeguard yourself by using a smart
'collection' of books.
How Your Library can Evolve
If your interest is strictly edible wild plants, a good
'starting' library would be three good books on plant
identification, three good books on edibility, and one good
book on poisonous plants. Add books as you see fit.
If your interest is medicinal plants, a good starting
library would be three good books on plant identification,
three good books on medicinal plants, and one good book on
poisonous plants. For more interests, add three more books
from each new area. Develop your library as your interests
develop.
|
What You Will Find Here
Hundreds of books have been examined and reviewed by
Wild Food Adventures. Only the best have been included at
this site. These books are not perfect (no book is) - they
rise to the top due to our criteria and a combination of
features. The criteria depends on the category they are
listed in. Those criteria are stated at the top of each
review page that you visit. No book is listed unless we
have seen and evaluated it directly. Explore additional
information (including other reviews and ratings) through
special links we provide to Amazon.com (the discount on-line
book seller).
What You Won't Find Here
Out-of-print, special order, and hard to get classic
wild food books are not listed here. See the Wild Food
Primer for those kinds of books. Books with little or no
redeeming value, books that just repeat the same brief
uninformed and uninspired information, and "good effort but
not top of the line" books are not listed here.
The Categories Above
Are not exclusive of each other. For instance, "some"
books in the "Edibility" category include "some" information
and illustrations to help you identify the plants. They may
or may not include recipes. They may also cover some
poisonous plants. Some books in the Identification category
might include some edibility information. Just remember to
keep in mind that most books cannot cover "all" things well
- though some will cross categories. Use these categories to
begin and to develop your wild food library.
More Categories to Come
As we get time we will review and post books in the
following categories: Native American Ethnobotany,
Sea Vegetables, Mushrooms, General Plant
Identification, Primitive Skills,
Survival, Edible Landscaping, Edible
Flowers, and Good Reads
|
e-mail:
mail@wildfoodadventures.com
