This beginners' guide contains pictures and descriptions of 39 species of edible wild plants that can be found in the urban environment. The aim is to provide beginner foragers with a pocket guide to plants they can easily find around them. Many species were not included because they require complex and more cautious preparation.
The plants in this book will be more than sufficient for your foraging adventures. Dandelions, chickweed, thistles and nettles are available in abundance and they can provide all the nourishment you need if you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to live on foraged food. However, learning about the other plants will provide you with some variety and make foraging more interesting.
Wild edible plants exist almost everywhere and most of the most common ones are not too far from you. Once you start foraging, you will discover an abundance of food you never knew existed. Edible weeds, herbs and fruits have been foraged and eaten or used for medicine for thousands of years. They possess all the vitamins, minerals and vital nutrients that the human body needs for healthy living.
You don't have to go too far to start foraging. Some of these wild edibles are likely to exist in your backyard, in fields and places you walk every day. There is a wild range of wild edibles you can eat as long as you have properly identified them to be safe for food. You may simply start foraging some of these plants to add to your daily food.
Foraging is not only about surviving on wild plants. There are also other benefits of eating wild edibles. They will reduce your grocery expenses. They are strong genetically and more nutritious than hybrid store produce. Your immune system will get a boosts from the medicinal properties of these plants. Foraging is also a good way to get some exercise, spend time in nature and get some vitamin D from the sun!
The more you harvest wild edible plants, the better you'll become at foraging. Each time you go out, try to practice identifying a new plant. Study its edible parts and how to use it for medicine. As you keep doing this, the more comfortable you will become with foraging.
Happy foraging!
Kristen Barton