Northeast Foraging
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Northeast Foraging: 120 wild and flavorful edibles from beach plums to wineberries Paperback – April 8, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Although I have over 200 books on foraging in my collection, I would rate this as one of the very best.”
About the Author
Leda Meredith is a lifelong forager and a certified ethnobotanist. She is an instructor at the New York Botanical Garden and at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, specializing in edible and medicinal plants. The author of two previous books, Leda writes a foraging column for the James Beard Award-nominated group blog NonaBrooklyn. She is the Guide to Food Preservation for About.com, a New York Times Company. Leda leads wild edible plant tours throughout the Northeast for organizations including Slow Food, Green Edge, SideTour, and others. You can find out more about her upcoming tours and workshops at ledameredith.com.
More About the Author
Lifelong forager, food preservation expert for About.com, blogger for Mother Earth News, locavore, sustainable food systems educator, former professional dancer (yep, one of these things is not like the others ;)
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By
Michael E. Krebill
on April 10, 2014
Format: Paperback
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Leda's book has drawn accolades from notable foragers such as Sam Thayer, "Wildman" Steve Brill, Gary Lincoff, and Hank Shaw. Although I have over 200 books on foraging in my collection, I would rate this as one of the very best, and give it 5 out of 5 stars. Why? First, this is a great regional guide. While some of the plants included can be found in many states, all 120 are commonly seen in the Northeastern US and Ontario and Quebec. Specifically, if you live in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Rhode Island - or have relatives who do - this is an excellent book to add to your library or give as a gift. (If neither is true, please don't miss what I have to say at the end of this review.) Secondly, the layout and design of the 6 1/2" x 9" book looks attractive and enticing as you flip through its 316 pages. It has 159 splendid color photos. Third, the plant accounts are organized alphabetically and headings within each account (How to Identify, Where and When to Gather, How to Gather, How to Eat, How to Preserve, and Future Harvests) enable you to find the information you want to know in a matter of seconds, without resorting to an index. Fourth, I can envision the section listing potential wild harvests by season and habitat as tremendously helpful for all foragers, whether you are a beginner or a veteran. That section is near the front of the book, and can be found starting on page 18 on Amazon's "Look Inside" preview. Fifth, in each plant's Future Harvests paragraph, Leda advises the reader on whether the plant is invasive and can be harvested at will, or whether it falls into the "don't harvest unless it is abundant" category. Finally, Leda's writing sparkles.Read more ›
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By
Stephanie
on April 1, 2014
Format: Paperback
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A great book promoting sustainable foraging and eating locally and in-season. I liked that sustainable practices were highlighted and information was given on how to harvest each plant sustainably so no habitat is destroyed, which can be an issue with foraging.
A list of plants in the very beginning of the book is arranged by season and habitat so a certain part of the plant that is available at that time is highlighted as edible. After that are plant profiles for over 100 edible plants in the Northeastern United States. I would definitely make sure you bulk up on identification of any plant you are going to eat before using this book as your definitive guide. There are identification sections describing each plant, however you would have to know some botany terms to use effectively. Pictures are included, but every plant may not look like that. The sections that are a lot more useful are how to harvest the edible part of the plant, when to harvest, and how to eat and preserve. I was also impressed with the variety of plants in this book that I don't often see elsewhere such as basswood, black nightshade, cattail, garlic mustard, juneberry, mugwart, mulberries (my favorite) and pineappleweed.
This book was provided for free in return for an honest review.
A list of plants in the very beginning of the book is arranged by season and habitat so a certain part of the plant that is available at that time is highlighted as edible. After that are plant profiles for over 100 edible plants in the Northeastern United States. I would definitely make sure you bulk up on identification of any plant you are going to eat before using this book as your definitive guide. There are identification sections describing each plant, however you would have to know some botany terms to use effectively. Pictures are included, but every plant may not look like that. The sections that are a lot more useful are how to harvest the edible part of the plant, when to harvest, and how to eat and preserve. I was also impressed with the variety of plants in this book that I don't often see elsewhere such as basswood, black nightshade, cattail, garlic mustard, juneberry, mugwart, mulberries (my favorite) and pineappleweed.
This book was provided for free in return for an honest review.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Jane Morris
on April 3, 2014
Format: Paperback
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Having been a keen gardener and nature lover all my life, the idea of harvesting my own food has always interested me. I found the Vermont Nature Guide: A field guide to birds, mammals, trees, insects, wildflowers, amphibians, reptiles, and where to find them a helpful start for nature identification, but certified ethnobotanist Leda Meredith's book took me much deeper into the world of foraging and shed light on many of the questions I had.
The sections on how to identify edible wild plants were concise and the photography used was clear and simple, something which helps take the guess work out of identifying plants. In addition to telling you how to identify plants, Meredith tells you which parts of plants are edible, where they can be found, when to harvest them, and how to preserve and eat them.
I especially liked the fact that Meredith covered how to gather in a responsible way and highlighted the importance of not destroying any habitats while foraging. She had tips on the matter sprinkled throughout the book and even had a section on "Important Questions to Ask Yourself Before you Harvest Wild Food."
I found that the one downside to the book was that some of the terms used to describe the plants can be quite complex, something that was fine for me but which someone new to the subject may dislike.
The structure and layout of the book made it wonderfully easy to read. At the beginning of the book, Meredith had listed all the wild plants and grouped them into seasons rather than by alphabetical order. This made it much easier to focus my attention and read about what was relevant now and meant I was able to read the rest of it at my leisure.
The sections on how to identify edible wild plants were concise and the photography used was clear and simple, something which helps take the guess work out of identifying plants. In addition to telling you how to identify plants, Meredith tells you which parts of plants are edible, where they can be found, when to harvest them, and how to preserve and eat them.
I especially liked the fact that Meredith covered how to gather in a responsible way and highlighted the importance of not destroying any habitats while foraging. She had tips on the matter sprinkled throughout the book and even had a section on "Important Questions to Ask Yourself Before you Harvest Wild Food."
I found that the one downside to the book was that some of the terms used to describe the plants can be quite complex, something that was fine for me but which someone new to the subject may dislike.
The structure and layout of the book made it wonderfully easy to read. At the beginning of the book, Meredith had listed all the wild plants and grouped them into seasons rather than by alphabetical order. This made it much easier to focus my attention and read about what was relevant now and meant I was able to read the rest of it at my leisure.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By
Wilderness Guy
on June 22, 2014
Format: Paperback
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There are 117 chapters that cover over 120 wild edible plant species. Some chapters cover more than one related species. The book contains 292 pages -- not counting the index and other appendix-type of material. The book is 9" high, 6.5" wide, and 3/4" thick.
Each chapter typically contains 2 full pages describing the plant(s) with at least one photo of the plant. A few plants are given 3 pages. More rarely, just 1 page or 4 pages are provided.
The single photos are typically very good. There are many instances where 2 or even 3 photos are provided. Nevertheless, there were many instances when I wished a photo would have been supplied to show close-up details of the leaf, flower, or other parts that were described in the text.
I was surprised to see that the author was apparently unaware that milkweed flower buds can be eaten raw -- i.e. not cooked at all.
The chapters are ordered alphabetically by the plant's common name.
Each chapter consistently includes the following headings or sections:
1. How to Identify.
This covers an overall description of the plant, its leaves, its flowers, its roots/rhizomes, and its fruits/berries/seeds/nuts.
2. Where and When to Gather.
This covers the general type of environment or soil type where it can grow, but there is no map or list of the states where the plant is found. I guess "Northeast" is all we get.
It also describes what season the edible parts are ready to harvest.
3. How to Gather.
This is not always obvious for some parts of some plants.
4. How to Eat.
This includes whether parts can be eaten raw and/or how to cook the edible parts.
5. How to Preserve.Read more ›
Each chapter typically contains 2 full pages describing the plant(s) with at least one photo of the plant. A few plants are given 3 pages. More rarely, just 1 page or 4 pages are provided.
The single photos are typically very good. There are many instances where 2 or even 3 photos are provided. Nevertheless, there were many instances when I wished a photo would have been supplied to show close-up details of the leaf, flower, or other parts that were described in the text.
I was surprised to see that the author was apparently unaware that milkweed flower buds can be eaten raw -- i.e. not cooked at all.
The chapters are ordered alphabetically by the plant's common name.
Each chapter consistently includes the following headings or sections:
1. How to Identify.
This covers an overall description of the plant, its leaves, its flowers, its roots/rhizomes, and its fruits/berries/seeds/nuts.
2. Where and When to Gather.
This covers the general type of environment or soil type where it can grow, but there is no map or list of the states where the plant is found. I guess "Northeast" is all we get.
It also describes what season the edible parts are ready to harvest.
3. How to Gather.
This is not always obvious for some parts of some plants.
4. How to Eat.
This includes whether parts can be eaten raw and/or how to cook the edible parts.
5. How to Preserve.Read more ›
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
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