The Scout's Guide to Wild Edibles: Learn How To Forage, Prepare & Eat 40 Wild Foods

by Mike Krebill

The Scout’s Guide to Wild Edibles is a National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA) winner in the Nature Guidebook category. Ever seen a tasty-looking plant or mushroom in a yard or forest but weren’t sure if it would taste good…or even be edible? In The Scout’s Guide to Wild Edibles , renowned forager Mike Krebill profiles 40 widely-found edible wild plants and mushrooms of North America, in a guide small enough to fit right in a pocket. The author offers clear color photos and positive-ID tips for each plant, along with lip-smacking recipes and engaging projects and activities for all skill levels. The Scout’s Guide will help foragers locate, identify and safely enjoy wild edibles – with the added satisfaction of knowing exactly where their food came from. This is one of those "especially for now" kinds of books for the challenging times we are in.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Food

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2016

Reviews

[Frank Hyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for novices, intermediates and foragers with kids. I wish I'd had it when I started foraging. I'm a professional forager in North Carolina and I own about 40 foraging books. I rate this one very highly for several reasons. It not only covers some of the most common wild edibles, but also shares ways to cook and preserve them such as the very easy pickling recipe for purslane. Krebill perfected his knowledge of best prep and cooking techniques working with his middle school students and with his scout troops. It's also one of the very few foraging books small enough to fit in your pocket, so it's much more useful in the field than almost any other foraging book.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scout leader and middle-school science teacher, the author draws on his 50 years experience to provide this handy pocket guide with clear photos of edible wild plants and mushrooms as well as recipes and activities. The author describes how to identify, harvest, and prepare these foods. Includes a glossary and index. This book is great for Scouts and anyone else interested in the subject.

[Carolyn Di Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just a fun and informative little book! Such a gem. Although, I'd not be likely to eat the mushrooms based on the short descriptions, but I'd certainly be willing to try some of the wild greens! I would have LOVED to have this book handy when I homeschooled my son. Great resource.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites ! Mike Krebill selected 33 "better tasting edible wild plants" to study and he gives the range,habitat, positive ID list, a caution note when there is a poisonous look alike, when to harvest and how to preserve your harvest. The book is small enough to take along with you on a hike and it has great photos. There are also projects and activities like the challenge to make your own lunch from what you find on a scheduled supervised walk. He even has 17 Recipes for the edible plants. One thing I wanted him to include was on how to tell a Poisonous Sumac from a non Poisonous one because I am very allergic to it. Before reading this book I thought that I might add some wild edibles to my diet. That was before I saw that sometimes the difference between a poisonous plant and a non poisonous plant can be very hard to tell like for one mushroom you have to look at the spores under a microscope !

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is written as if to be distributed to the author's friends and family, filled with personal anecdotes from the author's experiences as a teacher, tried-and-true recipes from local connections, and photos of his students experimenting with wild foods. Personally I loved this perspective, and I envy the students' early exposure to foraging wild foods.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly liked the section (pg 111-115) that discussed harvesting, processing, and storing foraged nuts. I’ve been looking for an easy to understand, concise guide to acorn foraging, specifically the best method for leeching tannins. I learned it’s best to wait for the second or third drop of acorns as the first typically is the tree shedding diseased or weevil infested nuts. Interesting!

[Rachel Coyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and useful little book

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this out of the library and am looking forward to rereading it while out on a plant walk, hike or camping trip.

Not only does the book identify safe versus dangerous plants, they also have a bunch of recipes and techniques for you to try while hiking with your family, friends, or leading your local scout troop—and the recipes/activities look a lot better vetted than in a lot of the other identification books/guidebooks/camping books.

Instead of introducing all the plants, it focuses on more commonly available plants—which is helpful to the environment, to ensure a plant doesn’t get popular and then wiped out by the “foraging because it’s cool” set.

[Elsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Krebill is not only very knowledgeable on this subject matter, he is a very engaging author. The material is easy to read and doesn't just repeat other foraging texts. There are many recipes so the reader will know what to do with the wild edibles once they have been identified.
This book is a very nice size for a field guide and the color pictures help with identification.

[Emily Fuger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fun and informative guide to foraging.

I was expecting more of a take-along guide, but it's far more suited to helping you choose what to go out looking for, then maybe referencing it after you get home with your treasures.