annieb123's Review of How to Forage for Wild Foods without Dying Journal

by Ellen Zachos

How to Forage for Wild Food without Dying: The Journal is an easy way for foragers to keep track of their foraging finds, where they found them, and at what time of year. By tracking what they collect, foragers can become more adept at locating their favorite wild foods in future years. They also become more educated about how weather patterns affect the availability of wild-harvested plants and mushrooms.

Throughout the book, author and expert forager Ellen Zachos offers essential advice for safe foraging and extensive lists of wild edibles and mushrooms for each season. These act as seasonal prompts, so that readers know what foods to be looking for at each time of the year, and as a way for readers to plan their future foraging adventures. The journal is the same trim size as How to Forage for Wild Foods without Dying and How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying and features rounded corners for durability, an easy-to-clean cover, elastic closure, and lay-flat binding.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

How to Forage for Wild Foods without Dying Journal is a beginner-friendly, accessible, and well written companion volume to the tutorial book of the same name written and curated by Ellen Zachos. Released 26th March 2024 by Hachette on their Storey imprint, it's 192 pages and is available in paperback format.

This book has an interesting format in that it presupposes zero previous knowledge on the reader's part, and also divides the plant entries by areas in which they're commonly found. The bulk of the book is for the user's record of where and when they found foragable items and for taking field notes.

It's divided into seasonal chapters with listings of commonly found species and where/when they can be safely harvested.

The book uses simple, accessible language as well as lots of clear photos to aid in identification. The author expends considerable effort covering sustainability (don't ever overforage), safety & ID, and responsible use of shrinking communal resources. The book has a North American focus, but many (most) of the plants have a much wider range, so the book will be useful to readers from outside North America.

Four stars. Since it's a personal journal and meant to be written in, this would be a good choice for gifting, home use, and for community/allotment gardens, and activity groups (bulk purchase rates available from the publisher) and smallholders/self-sufficiency folks.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

3 April, 2024: Started reading

3 April, 2024: Finished reading

3 April, 2024: Reviewed