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159 of 160 found the following review helpful:
How To Eat Nature Jul 30, 2001
If you're like me and you enjoy trying to eat leaves and berries that you find while hiking and wandering about in nature, this is a handy book to own. The Peterson who wrote this book (son of the Peterson of the many, many wildlife guidebooks writer) is also a forest forrager and details some other cool books to own in the Introduction (including Stalking Wild Asparagus..excellent). I searched for a while to find a guide that would not only easily ID edible berries, roots and leaves..but also give recipe-like tips on how to prepare said roots and leaves..and they do here. Who knew, for example, that one could make a cool and refreshing beverage from staghorn sumac? Crafty! Guide is sub-divided into several search methods: color, plant-type (berry, leaf) and includes many color plates along with ink drawings to help to be sure that Amanita spp. mushroom you're eating won't cause you trouble later! And, the final great feature of the Peterson guides is that the front and back covers are tough so that you can make your copy go camping with you over many moons and you won't wear out your book. Nice!
111 of 113 found the following review helpful:
excellent book for beginners but has some problems Jun 27, 2000
By Morgan-Rodenbeck family
This book contains descriptions and uses of hundreds of useful plants and is probably the most imporant book to have in your edible plant book collection. It also gives fair warning when some evidence suggests possible risks.
Despite these points, there are some things that make it hard to use. First, because they are trying to cram in as many plants as possible, they don't give enough attention to many plants that deserve it and give very breif descriptions, although they do point out some of the main identifying features. Second, the pictures, at least for the first half of the book, are simply recycled from the Peterson Guide to Wildflowers, which means that they often leave out important parts that you really need to see. Third, the book is organized for the most part so that you can't find a plant unless you know the color of the flower, which makes it really difficult to recognize plants unless you find them during the period they flower, which is usually pretty short. And did anyone notice that they switched the pictures of Nodding Wild Onion and Field Garlic on page 115?
Of course, the descriptions and drawings are better than most books on the subject, and it does have many useful features, so this book is definately worth having.
53 of 54 found the following review helpful:
Well written. Mar 14, 2003
By Detra Fitch
This book is very well written. it contains over 400 drawings and 78 color photos, to help in the identification of the mentioned plants. Each entry contains information on habitat, when they flower, a description and the uses. Also conatins any applicable warnings. The line drawings are very accurate and are more than enough, when coupled with the descriptions, to be able to identify just about any plant. But if you have any doubts, check the color photos. Also, at the back of the book, it contains the various types of plants divided up into habitat, and then each habitat divided into what plants can be harvested there during various seasons. This book is a great resource for any survivalist's bookshelf.
23 of 24 found the following review helpful:
Very good book Sep 05, 2004
By M. Coppedge
A very good book with many black-and-white drawings and excellent plant descriptions. The author shows well how to identify the edible plants and how to distinguish them from toxic ones that look similar. He also gives practical advice how to cook and eat the edible plants. I only wish the book had more color photographs.
At the end of the book you will find extra sections that help you find edible plants in a specific season. For example, it is spring and you want to make jams, salads, or pickles from a wild plant. The book lists all the plants you can collect during that season. Another section deals with location: which edible plants grow in meadows, wetlands, etc.
The book is well organized, color-coded, fully illustrated, and well indexed.
23 of 24 found the following review helpful:
I have an older print Jan 12, 2004
By Cym C. Mitch
"roadkillontheinfohyway"
The only difference being the front cover has been updated.This has a lot of very good line drawings and some photos. The information in it is very good. But, I would suggest that people cross reference the plants they find with another field book before eating something. The descriptions in the book are short, the emphasis is on the use of the plant and were you may find them. Remeber with out looking closely an untrained eye may mistake water hemlock (deadly) with water parsnip, cow parsnip, angelica, or wild raison at a quick glance. And that could be unfortunate to say the least. Other then that warning though I enjoyed this book and have had it a long time. It tends to be one of the books I carry with me when I go hiking and looking for plants and birds.
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