books on edible plants: region specific

hello all,

i am looking for a book. a book on regional specific edible plants. i'm looking for a book for the pacific northwest of the united states. online booksellers have lots of titles to choose from regarding the topic of edible plants. unfortunately they are all pretty general and nationwide. is there such a thing as a book on region specific edible plants?

it would be great if in the responses to this post to see books for other regions. south western united states, south eastern united states, new england, and even regional canadian books.

any help?

thanks guys

subfab

reply to post by subfab


I have a book on survival tucked away in my survival pack. But I recieved most my knoweldge of eatable plants through researching the history of the region I live in, what the natives ate, how they made things and what natural materials they used. In the survivalist guide i bought it details what I can eat in all regions I found it on Amazon.com. There are dozens of great books to be found with references to know if that perticular book is the one your looking for. I have learned that bark from most trees is eatable. becareful with the cactus you would attempt to eat some are poisonous but most are eatable. Seeds they are scattered all about the ground and they are eatable. here is one most people may not know, sticker bushes, when they are flowering we can eat the flower part of them. You can eat grass. cattails found on the edges of rivers you can eat the inners of the cattail, also spread around the cattails is a small brushy grashy like vegetation, it is like a crunchy spice type eatable.

I know this is not exactly what you asked for but when I was in the States a couple of years ago I bought a book called "Back to Eden" by Jethro Kloss.
It is amazing, filled with piles of information about plants, trees, weeds, herbs etc, etc!
Which are edible, how to recognize them, which parts to use, how to prepare them. Which of the plants are medicinal. Remedies, the list is just endless! This book is well worth the couple of dollars it cost and it was just a couple of dollars because the man who wrote it, many years ago I might add, believed that the information should be available, if not freely, then at least at a minimal cost and so the price is subsidized by the Kloss family/organisation! Or at least it still was when I bought my copy in New York for around $3.99!!

Really worth having if you can still find it!

I think you need to hit up your local parks, and nature centers to see if there are local books. These kind of books usually require you to go to a brick and mortar.

I really think, that in order to get the most accurate information possible, that you should research the experience of the author and maybe cross reference any information in the book.

John "Lofty" Wiseman's "SAS Survival Handbook" has a section of 50 pages or so on edible and medicinal plants. I highly recommend it.

Plus heaps more useful stuff.

reply to post by subfab


I found a few guides in my local library (they are written by local authors, and there are also books about what the regional natives ate), and also some laminated illustrated fold-outs from a non-chain bookstore.

I'm in EPNW, and there are a couple of different ecosystems here to learn. It's exciting and fun, especially foraging from the forest to the prairie.

Good luck!

I would go for a plant identifier with really good pix for your area and then find which ones are food herbs poison or moral boosters
I have some from Lone Pine Publishing for my area and they are a good start
I have trees, wildflowers, flowers, fungi
they have them for your area too

I found them by going to a new and used book store, and the library and then following up on the ones that were easiest to use

the national audibon society makes a nice identifier very detailed nice pix
peterson field guides are really good too, they go by type of area and subject (edible, medicinal..etc )

the internet has tons of info on most plants oncre you know what it is called

hope this helps

just be carefull in the field - mistakes can go south of unfun easy enough

Originally posted by Danbones
I would go for a plant identifier with really good pix for your area and then find which ones are food herbs poison or moral boosters
I have some from Lone Pine Publishing for my area and they are a good start
I have trees, wildflowers, flowers, fungi
they have them for your area too

I found them by going to a new and used book store, and the library and then following up on the ones that were easiest to use

the national audibon society makes a nice identifier very detailed nice pix
peterson field guides are really good too, they go by type of area and subject (edible, medicinal..etc )

the internet has tons of info on most plants oncre you know what it is called

hope this helps

just be carefull in the field - mistakes can go south of unfun easy enough

edit on 6-3-2012 by Danbones because: (no reason given)

edit on 6-3-2012 by Danbones because: (no reason given)

very cool,
i didn't think of the audobon society. yes, it can go south very fast out in the woods.

one link i was sent was to this place in oregon.

trackerspdx.com...

they offer survival emersion classes. i don't know if this is worth the money they ask. i can't tell from the photos if this is just a "city slicker" camp or a real learning opportunity.
one of the things i want to learn is to be able to survive if i am out hiking and for whatever reason i can't find the trail home.

thanks to everyone with their input and keep them coming.

-subfab

www.youtube.com...

Not sure about your region but do you have Sassafras trees? The root makes a wonderful tea. It is similar to root beer.

reply to post by NuclearPaul


Agreed AWESOME book. You can also download the SAS Survival guide as an Ipod app too!, its it really good, videos with lofty himself, and all the content of the original book, plus tests, and other useful stuff the book desnt give,

I have no interest in this app other than owning it and knowing it's true awesomeness!

Anyone know of any free online books about this subject?