Foraging New England by Tom Seymour
A Field Guide to Edible Wild Foods and Medicinal Plants
Food that's fresh, locally grown, nutritious and delicious is becoming all the rage. But what if that food were also FREE, and took no more effort to get than going out and finding, gathering, preparing and eating it? Other than having manna from heaven rain down on one's already-open mouth, what could be better?
Tom Seymour's Foraging New England will help you find, identify, and prepare wild foods growing anywhere from right on the New Englander's doorstep to the beach, streams, forest, fields, and open areas with disturbed land such as driveways, roads and houselots. Most of these foods are plants, plus a few mushrooms and mollusks, one crustacean and an amphibian. Not just for country-dwellers, many of the wild foods he talks about can be found throughout in New England.
Use the Winter to Study Up for Spring
Foraging for wild food in the winter is pretty much an armchair sport for New Englanders; there's not much to gather, what with the snow, ice, and frozen ground and bodies of water. Thank goodness we have volumes such as this 2002 title to educate and amuse us until the thaw finally comes. Spring is a special time for foraging for several reasons. One is that many plants put out their best (and sometimes only edible) leaves and shoots in Spring, so that's the time to gather and eat them. Spring is the time to notice later-ripening species in an early growing phase, when a mental note can be taken to return at a later time for the wild goodies. A third reason is that New Englanders get so tired of winter and eating plants foods grown far away -- any shoots of wild Springtime green are like a miracle!
A Fun and Educational Read
Seymour is a very amusing and helpful writer to read. His descriptions are clear, his stories humble and funny, and his identifications detailed. He obviously adores hunting and eating wild foods, and transmits that love throughout the book. A number of the plants he discusses are not widely known to be edible; his experience over years can be taken as a sign at least someone has survived the experience, and that the reader probably will, too. This is bonus information even for the foraging with some experience.
It could be wished, however, that his preparation methods were more varied than to boil or steam, and dress with salt, pepper, "real butter" and sometimes a dash of vinegar -- particularly when it comes to greens. Many New Englanders now have little experience with greens beyond spinach and lettuce, and need some help imagining way to serve the many nutritious and wonderful wild greens Seymour discusses in his book. A couple of tempting variations serving methods would have been welcomed; not all diners are as simple in their tastes as the author.
Please read the early part of the book where Seymour discusses proper foraging techniques that protect plant species from becoming depleted. Follow his good advice, as many wild plants have become threatened or extinct due to over harvesting.
The 87 color photos are a great boon to the forager. Most are excellent at displaying exactly what the searcher needs to look for to find their prey, be it plant or animal.
Links of Interest
Edible Green Plants of Winter: Foraging in the Snow
Taste of the Wild: Fieldguide to Edible Plants and Fungi of New England
Foraging New England by Tom Seymour
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