Books on edible plants

Midnight Oil

Hello all,

Just wondering if anyone knows of any decent books, preferably one available in Easons or the like, that gives details of what plants that can be found around Ireland are edible?

Basically looking for a handbook on all of the plants, trees, shrubs, flowers etc that tells you what are edible, how to make them edible and what needs to be avoided.

Thanks

Doc Ruby

The procedure for testing plants, even plants that you think are perfectly safe, is here. I had a few threads on the subject before I ran out of plants that can be unambiguously identified and don't have dangerous twin cousins, and risked people doing themselves injury. Fennels for example are not dissimilar to poison hemlock:

Fennel:



Poison Hemlock:



Basically always proceed with great caution, you can eat most animals with impunity but most plants can cause a surprising variety of damage to your body.

With that said I've heard the Collins Gem Guide "Food for Free" is relatively useful to get started. Just take it slow.

Deerhound

These are three books that I have in my collections:

Food for Free (Collins Gem) by Richard Mabey
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Food-for-Free-Richard-Mabey/9780007183036

Self-sufficiency Foraging by David Squire
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Self-sufficiency-Foraging-David-Squire/9781847737724

Foraging: The Essential Guide to Free Wild Food by John Lewis-Stemple
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Foraging-John-Lewis-Stempel/9780716023104

They are all very good books and a lot of their information overlaps with each other needless to say but each has something that separates it from the others too. I would recommend any or all of them.

I recommend the site too, it is site that I have used extensively in the past. I think you would have to do a lot of walking to get anywhere near those prices in Ireland.

bonniebede

i use the collins gem one too, has the advantage of being small and portable. They also have one for mushrooms, but i would never trust myself to identify a mushroom just from a book, would also like a hands on with someone who knows what they are doing.

Midnight Oil

bonniebede wrote: »

i use the collins gem one too, has the advantage of being small and portable. They also have one for mushrooms, but i would never trust myself to identify a mushroom just from a book, would also like a hands on with someone who knows what they are doing.

I got that one, the Collins Gem Free Foods book today in Eason.

Very basic though in my opinion

Midnight Oil

Recently came across a website that listed and identified all / most of the edible berries etc in the UK & Ireland and had them conveniently listed by colour of the fruits, eg all red were togther, all black were together etc, this IMO would make identifying what you have found much easier that searching through a book organised alphabetically.

Anyway long story short I can no longer find the site. Anyone any ideas on the one I am talking about?

Cheers

Midnight Oil

Fecking typical, within a minute of posting my request for help I find it :eek:

Anyway, for anyone else interested

http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/wfs/wfsberries.htm

"Food for Free" is quite good (I carry a collins gem in my backpack for light reading!)

"Hedgerow" by John Wright (River Cottage handbook) is also excellent. He also published a "Seashore" (for foragers) and "Mushrooms" handbook under the same series.

Hope this helps.
Druss.

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onewhogroks

I was recently recommended 'The Forager Handbook' by a chef friend who cooks with foraged produce.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Forager-Handbook-Miles-Irving/9780091913632