Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn't Know You Could Eat

Commendation Quotes:

"There is a food frontier nine steps from your backdoor, and Ellen Zachos is giving a tour. In this beautiful and accessible guidebook, she introduces us to the culinary use of a wealth of free, exotic, and gourmet produce that almost nobody knew existed."

"This is the book I had when I first got interested in eating 'wild'."

"A worthy and eye-opening addition to anyone's personal wild food library."

"Suddenly, a walk through the garden becomes a treasure hunt."

"I think of myself as a backyard know-it-all, but this book schooled me! I found myself exclaiming "no way!"at page after page.""

Introduction

1 Getting Started: Identifying Habitats in the 'Hood

Ensuring Safety * Ethical Harvesting

2 Harvest with Care: You Don't Have to Sacrifice Your Scenery

Picking Shoots and Young Foliage * Foraging Flowers, Fruits, and Nuts * Digging Roots and Tubers * Timing for Taste

3 Grazing Greens: Tasty Leaves and Stems

4 The Fruits of Nature's Labor: Edible Flowers and Fruits

5 Nature's Granola: Nuts and Seeds

6 Hidden Treasure: Roots, Tubers, and Rhizomes

7 Superstars: Plants with Many Edible Parts

8 Friendly Fungi: Five Easy Mushrooms

9 You Wouldn't Do This If It Didn't Taste Good: Preserving Advice and Basic Recipes

Freezing * Dehydration * Syrups, Jams, and Jellies * Booze * Baked Goods and Savory Dishes * Fruity Miscellany * Resources and Recommended Reading * Books about Wild Edible Plants * Foraging Books and Blogs * Mushrooms * Vendors of Mushroom-Growing Supplies * Food Preparation

Interior Photography Credits

Index

Eat Your Way Around the Block

Discover food in the plant life all around you: your backyard, your front yard, or a nearby park or vacant lot might be rich with edible possibilities. Ellen Zachos, an experienced foraging guide, safely leads you through harvesting etiquette, plant identification, and tips on how to eat the leaves, flowers, nuts, seeds, roots, and mushrooms that are there for the taking. Foraging -- the fun, safe, and free way to eat locally.

"Forget farm to table. Here's weed to bowl. ... Extremely appealing."

"[An] impressively comprehensive guide by horticulturist Zachos, who stresses the "ease and elegance" of foraging familiar plants--greens, fruits, nuts, seeds, tubers, and fungi--in yards and nearby environs. ... Eye-catching sidebars on legality, quick plant identification, food-preparation tips, and more accompany the main text, which is abundantly illustrated with full-color photos throughout."

Ellen Zachos is an expert forager and longtime foraging instructor. She is the author of six books, including The Wildcrafted Cocktail and Backyard Foraging. She is co-host of the Plantrama podcast and can be found online at backyardforager.com.

There's food growing everywhere! You'll be amazed by how many of the plants you see each day are actually nutritious edibles. Ideal for first-time foragers, this book features 70 edible weeds, flowers, mushrooms, and ornamental plants typically found in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Full-color photographs make identification easy, while tips on common plant locations, pesticides, pollution, and dangerous flora make foraging as safe and simple as stepping into your own backyard.

Review Citations:

• Publishers Weekly 03/04/2013 (EAN 9781612120096, Paperback)
• Booklist 04/01/2013 pg. 9 (EAN 9781612120096, Paperback)
• New York Times Book Review 06/02/2013 pg. 19 (EAN 9781612120096, Paperback)
• Library Journal 06/15/2013 pg. 110 (EAN 9781612120096, Paperback)

Contributor Bio:Zachos, Ellen

Ellen Zachos teaches foraged mixology workshops to bartenders in partnership with Rémy Cointreau USA, and is a regular contributor to several Edible magazines. A longtime instructor at the New York Botanic Garden, Zachos is the author of six books, including The Wildcrafted Cocktail and Backyard Foraging. She shares wild, seasonal recipes at backyardforager.com.