# Whats a good beginner book on foraging?



## James95 (Feb 22, 2012)

I love the feeling of being able to walk out into the woods and be confident that I can survive and even have fun living off of the land. I've done it countless times and every time I go I learn more and more about the outdoors But, I've neglected one key wilderness survival skill&mdash;foraging! I'm definitely not confident to the extent that I can pick out which mushrooms are safe to eat and which ones will stop my heart, but that could definitely increase my calorie intake while I'm camping. Does anybody know what the best book is to start out with? Preferably something with really good pictures and descriptions and a wide variety of edible and medicinal plants. Thanks


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## AlabamaGal (Dec 27, 2011)

I wouldn't start with mushrooms. Lots of them are *way* too hard to ID, certainly not from a book.

A specific book recommendation is hard to do without an idea of the region you are in. I have several books and yet half the time I can't even identify the plant in the book when I already know what it is... so I can't recommend any of them. I suggest going out with local foragers for lessons if you can. It's not comprehensive, but there's a list of some of them here:
http://www.eattheweeds.com/resources/

I also learn a lot with Green Deane's blog; I put the feed on my RSS reader and whenever he has a new post it shows up. He's got some good videos on You Tube as well.


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## James95 (Feb 22, 2012)

Thanks I'm from Mississippi.. Out in the sticks. Shouldn't be too hard


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## Kellog (Mar 3, 2012)

This guy's site has good info and pics and is in the right climate area for you (more or less.) http://www.foragingtexas.com/ 
He also has some book reviews and rates them for usefulness.
With a lot of foraging books, sometimes the info is good but not the pics and vis versa. It's like you have to carry a library around with you and many of the books are geared toward the northeastern parts of the USA. Occasionally, I can get an idea of what the plant is by first looking in a state university published guide to weeds or wildflowers and then cross referencing with a foraging guide to see if it's edible.

I just got a new book called (wait for it....) The New Age Herbalist by Richard Mabey. It actually has some of the better pics for identifying plants, plus a ton of info on using herbs for medicinal purposes as well as food. Like AlabamaGal said, it's hard to find a really good foraging book for the south/southeast/southwest area, so if you can find someone who's knowledgeable about local plants, that would be the way to go. And yeah, mushrooms are tricky so be very cautious there.

Another idea for identifying (and growing) common weeds is to see if they are offered in garden catalogs. Places like Bountiful Gardens, Johnny's Seeds, and Southern Seed Exchange sometimes have seeds for edible "weeds" like chickweed, minor's lettuce, purslane, lamb's quarters, etc. I've ordered the seeds and grown them for a season to see what they look and taste like. After growing them and becoming familiar with the looks of the plant, it's easy to spot the plant in the field. (After planting it, I found out I have chickweed growing everywhere here on the farm...doh!) And I guess you could also "naturalize" a spot of your land with edible weeds this way. Just be careful sowing plants that tend to be invasive...NO KUDZU!  And for the sake of your....err...gastrointestinal tract, identify carefully and start with small servings to see if you are sensitive to that particular plant. Even though raw broccoli and hot peppers are known to be edible, you know what happens to most folks who eat them in large quantities!


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