Foraging New York: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods

by "Wildman" Steve Brill

From beach peas to serviceberries, hen of the woods to Indian cucumber, ostrich ferns to sea rocket, this guide uncovers the edible wild foods and healthful herbs of New York. Helpfully organized by environmental zone, the book is an authoritative guide for nature lovers, outdoorsmen, and gastronomes.

Genres: Science, Cookbooks

352 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2017

Reviews

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went through a lot of field guides for local edible plants after taking a class, and this was my favorite. I love the authors writing style; She sticks to plain English. She gives enough context and details to help identify and has chosen plants that for the most part don’t have poisonous look-alikes. You’ll learn how to harvest and when and when you can expect to find them, and her recipes so far have been good!

[Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a lifelong forager of wild black raspberries (and by mistake, the occasional blackberry). My husband introduced me to mulberries a couple of years ago as well as wild onion within the past year. I've become obsessed! I wanted to learn more about foraging for food, so I looked to our local library system for help. This was the first book that I found.

This book contains a good list of foods that can be foraged in NYS. The author seems to know his stuff. He provides detailed descriptions of plants, their health benefits, recipes, and poisonous look-alikes. I liked the stories that he shared, and sometimes his dad jokes earned a chuckle as well. (Did you expect this kind of book to have humor? Because I certainly didn't- not with a cover like that.)

I'd like to go on a foraging tour sometime. I'm not 100% confident that I could identify the plants on my own. I wish that he'd included diagrams that compared look-alikes and perhaps higher-quality photographs of the plants themselves. I also would have preferred recipes that weren't exclusively vegan, or at the very least more of the ones that don't require trips to a health food store. In spite of the book's flaws, I would trust the author's teachings in person. He's clearly done his research.

I'm now left with a fresh list of potential foods to forage (greens, berries, blossoms, and nuts), but also a lot more questions to ask. Oh well. Back to the library!

[Dee Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE the full-color photographs. Very easy to identify species with this book. "Wildman" Steve Brill is the person who leads foraging tours through NYC parks. He's been well-known to me since the '90s!

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

while this book is not perfect, it lacks a large selection of identification pictures..., it is the best book I have found for my region. therefore I am somewhat saddened that there are so few reviews of This Book