Wild Foods

    Mother Nature has provided so many wonderful things that surround us daily, yet we close are eyes to so much of it. Wonderful knowledge that generations upon generations of people passed on, has somehow been lost in all the modern shuffle. Well no longer dear friends...my family and I have started gathering wild foods and every week I am going to share with you our finds, recipes and links. By sharing our "wild" adventures, my hope is to reconnect all of us to the ancient traditions that were so very important to peoples lives. At the very least, you and yours will be inspired to take a walk, enjoy nature, be together and maybe stop to eat the flowers.
(please note that wild foraging is serious stuff, not to be taken lightly. For every good plant there may be one that looks  almost like it but can make you sick or even kill you. Do your homework. Read books and become educated.)

I have included some books that I really like. I have to say they are all very different from each other yet, all of them need to be on your shelf. With wild foraging, you can never be to prepared and in this case I think knowledge is power. If you want to start simple and easy I would recommend the last book and here's why..
I like that its about New England. I like that it covers plants near the ocean. I like that when discussing a plant, it will tell you right off the bat whether or not there is another plant that looks similar and if that similar plant is poisonous. Very good to know when starting out. Some of the plants discussed in this book are right in your yard like violet, plantain and dandelion. Easy read...what I don't like about the book, is that there are not enough pictures, but that may be in part because the  pages tell you if there are dangerous look-a-likes.
This book is simple, to the point and will totally build your "wild"confidence.

Here is a great article I found: Woodsman

Wild Reads:

Foragers-Harvest-
Natures Garden
Essential Wild Food
Edible Wild Plants
Foraging New England


Next week: Violet syrup, violet salad