The Bay Area Forager: Your Guide to Edible Wild Plants of the San Francisco Bay Area

by Mia Andler, Kevin Feinstein

Reading this guidebook is like taking a wild foods walk with foraging experts Mia Andler and Kevin Feinstein: it gives practical advice for gathering edible wild plants in the Bay Area in a voice that is friendly and suffused with rich personal knowledge. The authors provide thorough descriptions of where to find each of the region's most readily available plants, and they give clear instructions for harvesting them responsibly. Large, detailed photographs help readers to identify plants easily. Also included are mouth-watering recipes such as cattail crêpes, cherry laurel cordial, fiddlehead fusilli, and rosehip soup. Ideal for any experience level, The Bay Area Forager invites readers to deepen their relationship with their environment.

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, Nature

315 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 15, 2015

Reviews

[Wesley Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this one because it looked raw, hand printed. Why should the urban forager support BIG PUBLISHING. This book is as organic as the fennel i like to collect from the pulgas water temple.

[Xiaofan Fang · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book on foraging! Solid content and I appreciate the author's foraging philosophy and their emphasis on sustainability. Re-reading until I commit all the plants to memory!

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enough information that if you already have a good understanding of what each of the plants look like before picking up the book you would now have a few additional facts to consider while picking them. Unfortunately there is only one smashed up close to the camera picture of most of the plants and very little in the way of size or other helpful descriptive factors. Maybe this is just how plant identification books are made, but i did not feel anymore comfortable nibbling on anything i found on a trail after reading this.

[Emile · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good start to foraging and local edible plants.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book and it's very well written with both a common and scientific name index. I only wish it was clear on the cover that this was just for plants and not for mushrooms or intertidal foraging.

[Kirsten Hessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second pass through this book and will keep returning to it.

[Jim Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a lot of fun, well thought out, and very well organized.
If you are interested in foraging, and you live in the SF Bay Area, this book is for you.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! A great introduction to foraging with excellent photos and descriptions of the plants. Also loved the recipes for each plant.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every plant entry has:
-identification
-picture
-uses
-recipe

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that kicked off my current fascination with foraging.