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The Library - More Wild Herbs

Written by: Nevin
Created: 2017-06-22 05:46:20

Easy Wild Food Guide – Neil Fletcher – Aurum Press Ltd. (UK) 2007 ISBN 978 1 84513 254 5 – There is the obligatory introduction about collecting plants, mushrooms and seafood and a bit about cooking but the majority of the books is a series of wild food monographs, divided into the season of their availability, starting with Spring. Each season contains a series of monographs on the plants, fungi and seafood available for that season. Each monograph lists the name of the wild food, a description of identification points, general information on cooking and eating, a drawing of the plant, its flowers, seeds etc. a description of its habitat and more details on cooking. There is also a photograph showing what the food looks like in the wild to assist in identification. Lots of colour photographs and drawings.

Natures Wild Harvest – Eric Soothill & Michael J. Thomas – New Orchard Editions Ltd. (UK) 1983 ISBN 1 85079 071 X – This book is also set out by season, listing the edible wild herbs available at that time with also the odd wild fruit, fungus and seafood as well. Each monograph lists the common and Latin name of the food, provides a line drawing and general description of the food, what it may be used for and one or a number of recipes. There are a number of pages of colour plates scattered throughout the book.

Wild Edibles – Sergei Boutenko – North Atlantic Books (US) 2013 ISBN 978 1 58394 602 2 – The introduction of the book talks about why foraging is good, green smoothies and the benefits of including children in your endeavours. The second section details the basics of foraging including simple rules for foraging, identifying poisonous and non-poisonous plants, conservation and foraging etiquette, knowing where to look and tools needed. The next section consist of monographs on 60 wild edible plants including common and Latin names, any required cautions, nutritional information, edible bits, the flavour, description of the plant and where it may be found, uses, any tricks to identification and the author’s comments. The final section lists 67 recipes for the wild edibles. There are lots of colour photos.

The Wild Wisdom of Weeds – Katrina Blair – Chelsea Green Publishing (US) 2014 ISBN 978 1 60358 516 3 – Part one of the book (Back to Basics) covers the authors’ journey with wild plants, symbiotic relationships, these plants as part of nature’s Permaculture and “wild intelligence”.  Part two, the majority of the book is a series of extensive monographs on thirteen wild foods: amaranth, chickweed, clover, dandelion, dock, grass, knotweed, lambsquarter, mallow, mustard, plantain, purslane and thistle. Each monograph covers the Latin and other names, description, current uses, history, edible uses, medical actions, medicinal uses and a series of recipes. Lots of colour photos.

Edible Wild Plants – John Kallas – Gibbs Smith (US) 2010 ISBN 978 1 4236 0150 5 – The book is written in three sections, section one – understanding wild foods – covers identifying and enjoying wild foods, what is edible and foraging tools. Section to is a series of monographs on 15 wild plants divided up into 4 categories – foundation greens, tart greens, pungent greens and bitter greens (the last of these being a new one on me – nipplewort!). Section three covers the potential of wild foods and discusses why we should eat wild foods, nutrition, oxalates and nitrates, crafting a wild paradise and feeding yourself and society. The book has a focus on correctly identifying the target plants and to this end as lots of colour photos. The information on the range of the plants covers the US only.

Field Guide to Useful Native Plants from Temperate Australia – J. M. Caton & R. J. Hardwick – Harbour Publishing House (AUS) 2016 ISBN 978 1 922134 60 8 – The first part of the book shows geographically where temperate Australia is, talks generally about fruits, leaves, seeds etc. nutritional value, hazards and edibility testing, bush medicines and insect resources. The majority of the book is broken up into sections of monographs covering: plants of beaches, estuaries and lagoons, plants of grasslands and woodlands, plants of freshwater lakes, rivers and swamps, plants of temperate rainforests, plants of tall forests, plants of dry forests and parasitic plants. Each monograph is 2 pages covering names, distribution, habitat, description, useful parts and uses. There are several colour photos for each monograph.

Wild Foods – Vic Chericoff – New Holland Publishers (AUS) 2015 ISBN 978 1 92151 749 5 – This is not a “how to” but more a “why we should”. The book looks at our modern dies and its consequences then how thing can be improved by embracing traditional Australian bush foods. The last section of the book looks in detail about the health benefits of consuming 11 bush fruits, 3 herbs and 3 spices. The book has lots of of colour photos.

The Wild Food Cookbook – Roger Phillips – The Countryman Press (US) 2014 ISBN 978 1 58157 218 6 – There is a short introduction on the aims of the book and how to use it, then each chapter provides a series of monographs on different types of edible plants. Chapters include: leaves shoots flowers and herbs, teas, dangerous edible plants (!), seaweeds, desert plants, mushrooms, berries and fruits, nuts and seeds and finally roots and sap. Each monograph has a colour photograph of the plant, where it grows generally and where it may be found (in the US by state), a description of the plant and any cautions about eating it, then a series of recipes featuring the plant.

Backyard Bush Tucker – Peter Bindon – Anthony J. Macquillan (AUS) 2014 ISBN 978 0 9804215 8 3 – The introduction takes about gardening to save water and bush tucker gardening in NSW, while the first meaty section provides a series of bushtucker planting combinations for different growing zones eg, arid zone, temperate  moist zone hot summers, temperate moist zone dry summers, wetlands etc. This section was really useful for us. Section two gives a species list of bushtucker plants followed by a series of photographs of them, section three covers four special plant groups – gum trees, wattle trees, fig trees and lilly pillys. Section four talks about other useful species such as plants with edible arils, but not edible seeds, and various rainforest species. Lots of line drawings and colour photos.

The Wondrous World of Weeds – Pat Collins – New Holland Publishers (AUS) 2017 ISBN 978 1 921517 79 2 – After a very short introduction on what a weed is, the majority of the book is made up of monographs on over 100 weeds present in Australia. Each monograph lists the common and Latin names, were it is distributed within Australia and what its preferred habitat is. The monograph then provides a general description of the plant and detailed descriptions of its leaves, flowers and fruit/seeds. This followed by the plants’ uses as edible, medicinal or on the farm and in the environment. Finally is a reference for further reading and any warnings regarding the use of the weed. There are several colour pictures of each weed covered in the monograph.