Wild Pantry - Dine on the Wild Side of Mother Nature

This new edition of a book that Explorer magazine called “an indispensable field guide to the most common edible plants of North America” offers 85 plants that are not only edible, they are truly worth eating. This guide is as much fun to browse as it is to use.

Many of the plants we call weeds were brought here by settlers. Our grandparents still knew where to find them, how to use them and when to harvest.. They are not confined to the wilderness but can be found in your backyard or along roadsides--even on urban expressway margins and vacant lots.

More than 25 uses—from salads and seasonings to jams and pies—can add variety to meals and really cut rising food costs. This guide makes harvesting nature’s free bounty sure, safe and easy. It is, as noted by the New York Times, “extremely well organized.” Each plant is described in clear, non-technical terms and each is illustrated. The text clearly spells out the part of the plant that is edible, when to collect it and how to prepare it.

Product Description

This new edition of a book that Explorer magazine called "an indispensable field guide to the most common edible plants of North America" offers 85 plants that are not only edible, they are truly worth eating. This guide is as much fun to browse as it is to use. Many of the plants we call weeds were brought here by settlers. Our grandparents still knew where to find them, how to use them and when to harvest. They are not confined to the wilderness but can be found in your backyard or along roadsides -- even on urban expressway margins and vacant lots. More than 25 uses -- from salads and seasonings to jams and pies -- can add variety to meals and really cut rising food costs. This guide makes harvesting nature's free bounty sure, safe and easy. It is, as noted by the New York Times, "extremely well organized." Each plant is described in clear, nontechnical terms and each is illustrated. The text clearly spells out the part of the plant that is edible, when to collect it and how to prepare it.

About the Author

Alan Hall passed away in February, 2011. He will sadly be missed.

Alan Hall was a journalist, author and teacher with a career that spanned nearly four decades. He graduated from Cornell University with majors in Journalism and science writing in 1967. He moved to New York to pursue a career but had a weekend house (a run down farm) near Cornell. Because his father was a botanist and naturalist, he took to rural life and learned plant lore. He took a leave of absence and moved to the upstate NY farm and produced much of the manuscript there. Later, Hall became senior editor in charge of science, environment and energy coverage at Business Week. He also served as Executive Editor at Scientific American magazine. Later, he taught online courses in journalism at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Hall received numerous journalism awards, including the AAAS/ Westinghouse Journalism Award, and was a recipient of the McGraw-Hill Corporate Achievement Award. His projects have both won and been finalists for the prestigious, National Magazine Award.

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Books & Videos

If you have any book or video recommendations for this site, please email Wild Pantry.

This is a list of recommended reading on the subject of wild foods, foraging, paleo diets, etc.

The Wild Food Trailguide

Foraging Books

Wild Mushrooms

Medicinal Plants, Herbs, Medicinal Mushrooms & Holistic Health

Wild Cooking Recipe Books

Ethno-botany

Suggestions are always welcome!