Pocket Nature: Fruit Harvesting: Discover Nature's Abundance

by Sara Bir

A charmingly illustrated pocket guide to cultivating a deep appreciation for nature’s bounty through fruit foraging.

When we harvest fruit seasonally, we’re reminded that good things can’t be rushed, and that life’s offerings are best at their peak. In this sweet guide, learn the fundamentals of year-round fruit picking,


Where, when, and how to look for fruit


The etiquette of gathering on public land


How to put your haul to good use


And much more.




Here is a collection of fun, accessible projects, including concocting your own ink or making a delicious fruit leather or syrup. Or, with no planning required, you can simply eat berries straight from the branch on a sunny day. Fruit Harvesting is your permission to savor life’s simple pleasures.

EASY WAY TO GET In our stressful times, people are finding that spending more time outdoors is a great way to escape and unwind. Fruit foraging is an enjoyable pastime that gets you outside, moves your body, and calms your mind. With mindful activities sprinkled throughout, Fruit Harvesting is more than a foraging field guide; it is also an invitation to spend more time in nature and away from screens and tech.



GREAT GIFT  Petite, gorgeously illustrated, and written in an inviting tone, this approachable guide makes a great gift or self-purchase for nature and fruit lovers. Package the book with a foraging basket, garden clippers, a lovely fruit bowl, or other books in the Pocket Nature series for a delightful anytime gift.



COLLECTIBLE NATURE The topics covered in the Pocket Nature series are perennial—flowers, beaches, clouds, and sunsets will always be there to enjoy and admire. Collect them all to grow a charming collection that looks great on your bookshelf.

Perfect  


Fruit lovers and home gardeners


Nature enthusiasts, walkers, and hikers


Conservationists and environmentalists


Mindfulness practitioners, meditators, and anyone seeking simple practices for stress management


Anyone looking for a birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, holiday, or just-because gift for nature-loving family and friends

128 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 3, 2026

About the author

Sara Bir is a chef, culinary educator, and author of three cookbooks, The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, Tasting Ohio and The Fruit Forager's Companion. The latter won a 2019 IACP Cookbook Award. Her writing has been featured in Best Food Writing, Saveur, Lucky Peach, Full Grown People, Edible Ohio Valley, Ohio Magazine, and many other publications.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you or someone you know loves to walk, bike or explore & loves fruit this is a great book! Next time they bike past the crabapple tree on the side of the road they’ll know what they’re seeing & when to harvest it! This is a thoughtful and easily accessible book for beginners. I loved all the illustrations throughout, they made learning super easy! I never thought I’d be able to remember that an apples genus is Malus!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.
The illustrations in this pocket guide are straightforward and not very descriptive. I think they were cute, but many people may feel the need to use another resource to get a full picture of what things look like.
This pocket guide is a great jumping-off point for beginners like me. It has a good amount of information without being overwhelming. I would recommend this for people who want to start foraging for fruit or even growing their own garden.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been mainlining videos on Homegeown Handgathered, so picking up this book felt serendipitous. And it proved short, sweet, very likable, but a bit more beginner/less detailed than I might have liked. Bir spends a fair bit of time talking about what one gets out of foraging fruit, when I'm already onboard. I wish there was more about identification and classification. We got a little taste in the early chapters, and I think the advice to find a botanical garden and study the plant tags is quite smart. (Though I'm lucky enough to have the gorgeous Arboretum right at my doorstep, and not everyone can say that.) A few more recipes/usage ideas would also not go amiss. Basically, this was a great 101, when I was looking for 102-105. If you're going to get it, get it for the cozy vibe more than the wealth of info.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

[Elizabeth Greenop · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for those who want to start out on their fruit harvesting journey! The author is quite detailed in what to look for in landscapes to spot fruiting plants. The book even features illustrations drawn by hand to help identify particular fruits. I found them to be particularly helpful in identifying them and the genus they belong to. The author includes activities to help one on their fruit harvesting journey. The author also includes some recipes for what to do with your fruit once you harvest it—even making ink!

I found this to be very helpful and a great book for beginners such as myself.

[donutqueenie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some great information about fruit, botany, and scavenging but I do not think it would be practically very useful. It romanticized fruit and gave broad concepts. I think it needed more pictures to help identify some plants and fruit in the wild; I thought that’s what this book would be and there were basically zero pictures like that.

I love that there’s some recipes, including how to make ink! I have never thought about making ink from berries and now I want to try it!

I thought it was an odd choice to end the book with a “pick fruit until you forgot who you are” sentiment and it left a bitter aftertaste.

Release date 3/6/26. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet little introduction to fruit harvesting and foraging but not a definitive guide. It’s got a wonderful spirit but is not any kind of identification guide or thorough resource. It was much shorter than I expected and is more along the lines of inspiring you to start foraging fruit rather than telling you what to forage, how to find it or what to do with it.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book celebrates the magic of the natural world through the act of fruit harvesting. It contains adorable illustrations and is pleasant to read, but is ultimately not particularly informative or useful. It touches on big ideas but isn't really a practical field guide for fruit harvesting. Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the ARC.

[Ella Tootle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fantastic book, I feel like I consumed it at such a rapid pace. I find it hard to pull significant attention towards some non-fiction books but I felt gripped by this and I even found myself really taking notes to apply to my experiences. All around stunner.