Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: Eating what you find in the wild can be a life saver. Learn about plants, not just N. American, but any place in the world that you might be called to serve.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Eating what you find in the wild can be a life saver. Learn about plants, not just N. American, but any place in the world that you might be called to serve.
Rating: 
Summary: a good book on the subject
Review: I bought this book to use to gather wild plants for making homemade wines, but now it's a companion whenever I go hiking, fishing, camping, or merely sightseeing. It's that valuable!The book is divided into an introductory section, guides to harvesting plants in each of the four seasons, the plants themselves (also presented seasonally), poisonous plants, a nutritional guide, and two great indices. The introduction includes great tips on how to prepare wild foods as drinks, snacks, entres, and condiments, along with recipes for 25 jellies, 20 jams and 17 fruit and berry pies. But the good part is yet to come. Each plant is presented with a good-to-excellent photograph, a distribution map (so a person in the Pacific Northwest doesn't have to wonder whether he or she is looking at a squashberry or a hobblebush berry), a complete description, identification of the edible parts, harvest and preparation notes, related species, and poisonous look-alikes (if any). The presentations are just excellent. My only complaint is that the book isn't twice as thick. Whether you just want to be prepared for emergencies or you want to collect wild edibles for making jams, jellies, pies, and wine, this book is one of the only two you'll probably need. The other is a good regional guide, because with over 20,000 species of plants to choose from north of the Rio Grande alone, a guide to regional edibles is a must.
Rating:
Summary: This is a book that all who play outdoors ought to have.
Review: I bought this book to use to gather wild plants for making homemade wines, but now it's a companion whenever I go hiking, fishing, camping, or merely sightseeing. It's that valuable! The book is divided into an introductory section, guides to harvesting plants in each of the four seasons, the plants themselves (also presented seasonally), poisonous plants, a nutritional guide, and two great indices. The introduction includes great tips on how to prepare wild foods as drinks, snacks, entres, and condiments, along with recipes for 25 jellies, 20 jams and 17 fruit and berry pies. But the good part is yet to come. Each plant is presented with a good-to-excellent photograph, a distribution map (so a person in the Pacific Northwest doesn't have to wonder whether he or she is looking at a squashberry or a hobblebush berry), a complete description, identification of the edible parts, harvest and preparation notes, related species, and poisonous look-alikes (if any). The presentations are just excellent. My only complaint is that the book isn't twice as thick. Whether you just want to be prepared for emergencies or you want to collect wild edibles for making jams, jellies, pies, and wine, this book is one of the only two you'll probably need. The other is a good regional guide, because with over 20,000 species of plants to choose from north of the Rio Grande alone, a guide to regional edibles is a must.
Rating:
Summary: a good book on the subject
Review: I would actually rate this 3 and a half stars. Good information and pretty good photos, however, I have had a (very) small amount of frustration using this book because photos (particularly black and white) can be ambiguous, and because it doesn't go into a great deal of ideas for uses of the edible plants (medicinal uses, recipes, etc.). Overall a good book though.
Rating:
Summary: Learning Edible Plants
Review: Identification of edible species is what I want, with emphasis on the first word. From my experience in identifying tree species and other plant ID handbooks, I'd call this one mediocre. The photos are often close-ups with no indication of scale, so size is unknown. Details are not included. Root structure and overall plant structure are seldom shown. ID often depends on flowers, present only for a few weeks of the year. Variation among species is so widespread that I'd recommend at least two good books, with better illustrations than those found here. Drawings, though not "natural", often provide better clues to identity by showing roots, structure, etc.
Rating:
Summary: Only Fair for Identification
Review: Identification of edible species is what I want, with emphasis on the first word. From my experience in identifying tree species and other plant ID handbooks, I'd call this one mediocre. The photos are often close-ups with no indication of scale, so size is unknown. Details are not included. Root structure and overall plant structure are seldom shown. ID often depends on flowers, present only for a few weeks of the year. Variation among species is so widespread that I'd recommend at least two good books, with better illustrations than those found here. Drawings, though not "natural", often provide better clues to identity by showing roots, structure, etc.
Rating:
Summary: A 'must' for people interested in edible wild plants
Review: My only regret about this book is that it isn't longer! The plants are organized by season, and every plant has a small map to show what regions it grows in. There is a very nice, good sized picture of each plant, and most of them are in color. Information is also provided about harvesting, how to prepare the plant, and poisonous look alikes, if any. The plants are listed by their common names, but the latin names are listed as well. Plants can be located by either name in the index. If you are interested in edible wild plants, this book is a great value for a reasonable price.
Rating:
Summary: A 'must' for people interested in edible wild plants
Review: My only regret about this book is that it isn't longer! The plants are organized by season, and every plant has a small map to show what regions it grows in. There is a very nice, good sized picture of each plant, and most of them are in color. Information is also provided about harvesting, how to prepare the plant, and poisonous look alikes, if any. The plants are listed by their common names, but the latin names are listed as well. Plants can be located by either name in the index. If you are interested in edible wild plants, this book is a great value for a reasonable price.
Rating:
Summary: Great edible wild plant book; pictures, not drawings.
Review: This book is a well-organized listing of edible wild plants in North America. Listings are by season, so you know when to look for a specific plant. Habitat is described including a quick reference range map of North America, as are how to harvest, prepare, and store foods for future use. A symbol key at the left of each plant will tell you at a glance what uses you can put a plant to; trail nibble, potherb, etc. Related edible and poisonous look alikes are also listed. This book utilizes pictures, something none of the other books I looked at did. I think this makes identification of plants much easier than relying on someone's black and white sketch or colored pencil rendering of something wild that I'm plan to eat. The one down side to this is that some of the pictures could be much better; about a dozen pictures are black and white, while others show the plant only at a distance which might make identification problematical. However, scientific names are provided, and if you have the luxury of time, you can do a search online for a more precise picture.
|
