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The Forager's Calendar: A Seasonal Guide to Nature’s Wild Harvests
'He writes so engagingly that it's hard to imagine that actual foraging can be more attractive than reading his accounts of it. ...[This book] is a treasure. It is beautifully produced, designed and illustrated.' - John Carey, The Sunday Times
Shortlisted for the Andr� Simon Food and Drink Book Awards for 2019
BEST NATURE BOOK OF THE YEAR, THE TIMES
Look out of your window, walk down a country path or go to the beach in Great Britain, and you are sure to see many wild species that you can take home and eat. From dandelions in spring to sloe berries in autumn, via wild garlic, samphire, chanterelles and even grasshoppers, our countryside is full of edible delights in any season.
John Wright is the country's foremost expert in foraging and brings decades of experience, including as forager at the River Cottage, to this seasonal guide. Month by month, he shows us what species can be found and where, how to identify them, and how to store, use and cook them. You'll learn the stories behind the Latin names, the best way to tap a Birch tree, and how to fry an ant, make rosehip syrup and cook a hop omelette.
Fully illustrated throughout, with tips on kit, conservation advice and what to avoid, this is an indispensable guide for everyone interested in wild food, whether you want to explore the great outdoors, or are happiest foraging from your armchair.
Shortlisted for the Andr� Simon Food and Drink Book Awards for 2019
BEST NATURE BOOK OF THE YEAR, THE TIMES
Look out of your window, walk down a country path or go to the beach in Great Britain, and you are sure to see many wild species that you can take home and eat. From dandelions in spring to sloe berries in autumn, via wild garlic, samphire, chanterelles and even grasshoppers, our countryside is full of edible delights in any season.
John Wright is the country's foremost expert in foraging and brings decades of experience, including as forager at the River Cottage, to this seasonal guide. Month by month, he shows us what species can be found and where, how to identify them, and how to store, use and cook them. You'll learn the stories behind the Latin names, the best way to tap a Birch tree, and how to fry an ant, make rosehip syrup and cook a hop omelette.
Fully illustrated throughout, with tips on kit, conservation advice and what to avoid, this is an indispensable guide for everyone interested in wild food, whether you want to explore the great outdoors, or are happiest foraging from your armchair.
400 pages, Hardcover
Published March 21, 2019
211 people are currently reading
1894 people want to read
About the author
John Wright
672 books41 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. ^1
John Wright is the author of the River Cottage Handbooks Mushrooms, Edible Seashore, Hedgerow and Booze and also The Naming of the Shrew, a book which explores the infuriating but fascinating topic of how and why plants, animals and fungi earn their Latin names. As well as writing for national publications, he often appears on the River Cottage series for Channel 4. He gives lectures on natural history and every year he takes around fifty 'forays', many at River Cottage HQ, showing people how to collect food - plants from the hedgerow, seaweeds and shellfish from the shore and mushrooms from pasture and wood. Over a period of nearly twenty-five years he has taken around six hundred such forays. Fungi are his greatest passion and he has thirty-five years' experience in studying them.
John Wright is a member of the British Mycological Society and a Fellow of the Linnaean Society.
John Wright is the author of the River Cottage Handbooks Mushrooms, Edible Seashore, Hedgerow and Booze and also The Naming of the Shrew, a book which explores the infuriating but fascinating topic of how and why plants, animals and fungi earn their Latin names. As well as writing for national publications, he often appears on the River Cottage series for Channel 4. He gives lectures on natural history and every year he takes around fifty 'forays', many at River Cottage HQ, showing people how to collect food - plants from the hedgerow, seaweeds and shellfish from the shore and mushrooms from pasture and wood. Over a period of nearly twenty-five years he has taken around six hundred such forays. Fungi are his greatest passion and he has thirty-five years' experience in studying them.
John Wright is a member of the British Mycological Society and a Fellow of the Linnaean Society.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
September 2, 2021
When you think of a book that has saved your life, people will often reach for the existential times of Kirkegaard, or Camus. I reach for 'The Forager's Calendar' by John Wright, which in the heat of the blissful afternoon, saved me from eating deathly nightshade berries. Sweet and inviting as they looked, just like the bilberry to my untrained eye! I rooted around for the text and examined the pictures and descriptions closely. Not quite a bilberry, not matt enough or with the same leaf shape. No similar shining dark lobes of berries in August or July either! What could this be? With a final hope before popping the delicious black gems into my mouth I flicked to the 'poisonous' section at the back only to be forewarned of impending death. A bell-shaped flower, a single shiny dark berry in a star shaped cup! These were the deathly nightshade berries, and that cool day on the sloping green hills of Exmoor, still salivating with wild anticipation, I lived to forage another day.
May 13, 2025
This book is a delight. John Wright has clearly built a lifetime's expertise and knowledge of the plants around us but his priority is to entertain as well as to inform, making the book a pleasure to read. Even if you have no intention of leaving the house (let alone foraging for food on verges, in woodlands, field or on seashores) you will take a vicarious pleasure in the author's escapades. He seems to have attempted to eat, or make an alcoholic drink, out of most of the plants that he has encountered and he is happy to share his experience. Anyone who does use this book to aid their foraging can use his advice on what to avoid, for example, Rock Samphire - 'a flavour that is undeniably half-way between carrots and white spirit' - or on differentiating an edible plant from its poisonous lookalike. Otherwise you can just enjoy the book, and feel closer to nature, from the comfort of your home.
February 27, 2021
This informative and practical guide to foraging is very humorous and accompanied by some beautiful photos. I love how the book is set into months and that each species also has the range of months it's most likely to be growing.
I will enjoy dipping in and out of this book potentially forever; I love finding out what different things I have encountered in nature.
I already have an interest in fungi, but now also in collecting seaweed!
I will enjoy dipping in and out of this book potentially forever; I love finding out what different things I have encountered in nature.
I already have an interest in fungi, but now also in collecting seaweed!
January 9, 2021
Such a gorgeous book, great pictures, descriptions. Very pleased with this, going to be my companion on many gathering walks this year!
July 9, 2022
I'm now ready to leave the world behind and live in the forest. 🍄🌳
ALTHOUGH, don't eat any mushrooms that look like 🍄 because the classic toadstool is a poisonous hallucinogenic, Fly Agaric, which grows near birch trees - deer feast on it to get high.
I have learnt so much! My only (small) criticism of the book is that the photos included are often too small or lack sufficient detail to help identify a species. I have often had to subsequently search for a plant or funghi online to get an idea of what it really looks like. This is of no real harm though as it's definitely advisable for any forager to check multiple sources before picking/eating anything!
ALTHOUGH, don't eat any mushrooms that look like 🍄 because the classic toadstool is a poisonous hallucinogenic, Fly Agaric, which grows near birch trees - deer feast on it to get high.
I have learnt so much! My only (small) criticism of the book is that the photos included are often too small or lack sufficient detail to help identify a species. I have often had to subsequently search for a plant or funghi online to get an idea of what it really looks like. This is of no real harm though as it's definitely advisable for any forager to check multiple sources before picking/eating anything!
September 30, 2020
I intended to spin this out with the seasons but got a bit ahead of myself. Obviously this is not 'finished' as it is now a great reference book. I won't be touching any fungi but I hope I will be able to get to the seaside and try some seaweed wracks - especially as a leaflet picked up this summer in Gatehouse-of-Fleet has given me the confidence to identify at least 3 of them.
The introduction was useful but will have to be re-written if the wretched Tory government criminalises tresspass as they are intending.
The section on poisonous plants was excellent and eye-opening.
The author obviously spends much of spring and summer putting stuff into gin and vodka (not a criticism) so well prepared for winter!
The introduction was useful but will have to be re-written if the wretched Tory government criminalises tresspass as they are intending.
The section on poisonous plants was excellent and eye-opening.
The author obviously spends much of spring and summer putting stuff into gin and vodka (not a criticism) so well prepared for winter!
June 4, 2021
Very good! Only two things to note: most of his suggestions of what to do with the food is to make alcoholic infusions with it, so I'm missing some simple /food/ recipes.
And lastly, some of the pictures were incredibly unclear.
Overall though, it was a very good book, and the author has a good sense of humour.
And lastly, some of the pictures were incredibly unclear.
Overall though, it was a very good book, and the author has a good sense of humour.
May 10, 2023
Very cool and thorough picking/gathering guide. I love that it follows the months, so it's easy to know when to gather what. Can't wait to use it.
June 24, 2023
Informative and darkly funny. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about wild edibles and will try not to die whilst out foraging.
October 16, 2023
A charmingly written and handsome book! It’s made walks outside ever the more interesting 🍄🥬🍃🌿
January 21, 2025
An excellent reference book for beginners like me!
November 17, 2025
I didn't know there's so many things out there that can kill you. Now i know...
December 10, 2024
An immensely readable, detail packed overview of foraging in Britain. What could in other hands be a dry read is enlivened no end by Wright’s entertaining prose and personal anecdotes. He makes what is undeniably a daunting prospect seem not only achievable, but enjoyable. A huge part of what has fostered my love of foraging in 2024 and this tome is certain to be a feature of any future foraging plans. Though I will confess to my heart sinking every time I got to the end of an exciting description to be faced with an “except for viewers in Scotland”-style interlude.
January 17, 2022
I've read a number of foraging books and blogs in the past, this is definitely the best starting point.
A frustration I have had with other books and blogs is that their delight with a wild food being edible blinds them to the fact it isn't worth eating. I've learnt to recognise these items as they invariably come with the recommendation that 'it makes a delightful omelette'.
I love that John comes across a bit fussy - he has carefully curated a list of wild foods that are actually worth eating. This isn't a book of technically edible foods, but of foods worth eating, that will bring something interesting to your plate or drinks cabinet.
The monthly layout makes so much sense and makes the book very valuable. He provides the right amount of information for identifying everything he includes - where needed recommends caution. It's nice to be mostly confident you won't die.
It's practical, light-hearted and filled with timeless wisdom such as 'never eat a slug'.
This might be the first book on the topic I would recommend to those that aren't already into foraging - even those that never plan to. It was enjoyable in and of itself.
A frustration I have had with other books and blogs is that their delight with a wild food being edible blinds them to the fact it isn't worth eating. I've learnt to recognise these items as they invariably come with the recommendation that 'it makes a delightful omelette'.
I love that John comes across a bit fussy - he has carefully curated a list of wild foods that are actually worth eating. This isn't a book of technically edible foods, but of foods worth eating, that will bring something interesting to your plate or drinks cabinet.
The monthly layout makes so much sense and makes the book very valuable. He provides the right amount of information for identifying everything he includes - where needed recommends caution. It's nice to be mostly confident you won't die.
It's practical, light-hearted and filled with timeless wisdom such as 'never eat a slug'.
This might be the first book on the topic I would recommend to those that aren't already into foraging - even those that never plan to. It was enjoyable in and of itself.
December 27, 2021
Great, but not what I was expecting!
John Wright is a knowledgeable and experienced forager with encyclopaedic details about the wild plants and fungi of the British Isles.
There’s little he hasn’t found or tried, and this book is an excellent source of useful information.
However much of that (undeniably useful) information “tastes bland/slimy/disgusting so don’t bother.” He quite likes astringent, aniseed or bitter flavours some of the time but for a good third of the plants he damns with faint praise at best.
I thought it would be an enthusiastic endorsement of the joys of foraging but mostly it’s an old codger telling me how rubbish most of it is, and it’s tickled me.
He clearly adores fungi, but the repeated dire warnings of deadly confusion species scared me enough to leave that to the professionals.
I very much enjoyed the time spent absorbed in his book, and am somewhat fascinated by the number of vodka recipes he has. But I’m not sure I will head out to the woods any time soon…
John Wright is a knowledgeable and experienced forager with encyclopaedic details about the wild plants and fungi of the British Isles.
There’s little he hasn’t found or tried, and this book is an excellent source of useful information.
However much of that (undeniably useful) information “tastes bland/slimy/disgusting so don’t bother.” He quite likes astringent, aniseed or bitter flavours some of the time but for a good third of the plants he damns with faint praise at best.
I thought it would be an enthusiastic endorsement of the joys of foraging but mostly it’s an old codger telling me how rubbish most of it is, and it’s tickled me.
He clearly adores fungi, but the repeated dire warnings of deadly confusion species scared me enough to leave that to the professionals.
I very much enjoyed the time spent absorbed in his book, and am somewhat fascinated by the number of vodka recipes he has. But I’m not sure I will head out to the woods any time soon…
April 14, 2020
Useful, practical, hilarious, full of great anecdotes and tips. Provided the know-how and impetus to forage nettles and garlic mustard in central London during the great lockdown
May 25, 2025
My son gave me this for a birthday present, and I have hugely enjoyed reading it at bedtime. It is informative and very amusing, and I can highly recommend it if only for the entertainment value, although I’m not detracting from the valuable wisdom John Wright passes on after a lifetime of foraging. A beautiful cover and illustrations too by Clare Curtis. I very much look forward to reading more of his books, in particular the enticingly-titled volume ' A Natural History of the Hedgerow and Ditches, Dykes and Dry-Stone Walls’.
I was a child forager, as I seem to have always been peckish between meals! As Iona and Peter Opie note, in their book The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, children often bypass adults and communicate knowledge from child to child down the generations, and I guess this must have been the case in my school years, and other kids must have shown me what was okay to eat. My two primary schools had plenty of outside places to play, and I recall we regularly ate beech nuts, sorrel (we loved the sour taste), ‘bread and cheese’ (leaves from the hawthorn hedges), cobnuts (I grew up in Kent) and also picked clover and sucked the nectar from the bottom of the petals. We also did this with rhododendron flowers but I remember another child telling me that doing this gave you cancer. Hopefully I took this advice to heart - John Wright points out that it is in flower gardens that most perils lie, and a quick search has just informed me that rhododendrons contain grayanotoxins that can cause severe poisoning and even death.
My brothers and I used to scrump apples and pears from our garden, and rhubarb (eaten raw, sticking the end in the sugar bowl after every bite – I had a lot of fillings!) and peas. I also have a memory when on holiday at a Spanish campsite of climbing an olive tree, picking (and gnawing!) olives.
As an adult, however, although I have collected sweet chestnuts in the woods, and of course blackberries in the autumn, made elderflower cordial and elderberry crumble, I have never ventured into new pastures with the foraging, and after reading this book, although Mr Wright is a keen fungus collector, I will for sure not be collecting any other fungus than the kind you get in the shops! Of course, as children we were told that we should never eat any berries apart from blackberries. Mr Wright’s chapter on poisonous species is suitably terrifying, and I am grateful to have learnt from reading it.
I have read of two poisoning episodes to add to his – the first of an instance when a woman cooking Sunday lunch asked her adult child to fetch some onions from the store in the shed; lifted daffodil bulbs were mistaken for onions and the whole family was very seriously ill after eating. The second was of a man staying with friends who wanted to check some mushrooms which had been foraged before they were cooked. The suggestion was pooh-poohed and the meal went ahead. He was seriously poisoned and his kidneys so badly damaged that he had to have regular dialysis, and only restored to some kind of normal life after his daughter donated one of her kidneys for transplant. So reader beware, and heed the author’s detailed advice …
I was a child forager, as I seem to have always been peckish between meals! As Iona and Peter Opie note, in their book The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, children often bypass adults and communicate knowledge from child to child down the generations, and I guess this must have been the case in my school years, and other kids must have shown me what was okay to eat. My two primary schools had plenty of outside places to play, and I recall we regularly ate beech nuts, sorrel (we loved the sour taste), ‘bread and cheese’ (leaves from the hawthorn hedges), cobnuts (I grew up in Kent) and also picked clover and sucked the nectar from the bottom of the petals. We also did this with rhododendron flowers but I remember another child telling me that doing this gave you cancer. Hopefully I took this advice to heart - John Wright points out that it is in flower gardens that most perils lie, and a quick search has just informed me that rhododendrons contain grayanotoxins that can cause severe poisoning and even death.
My brothers and I used to scrump apples and pears from our garden, and rhubarb (eaten raw, sticking the end in the sugar bowl after every bite – I had a lot of fillings!) and peas. I also have a memory when on holiday at a Spanish campsite of climbing an olive tree, picking (and gnawing!) olives.
As an adult, however, although I have collected sweet chestnuts in the woods, and of course blackberries in the autumn, made elderflower cordial and elderberry crumble, I have never ventured into new pastures with the foraging, and after reading this book, although Mr Wright is a keen fungus collector, I will for sure not be collecting any other fungus than the kind you get in the shops! Of course, as children we were told that we should never eat any berries apart from blackberries. Mr Wright’s chapter on poisonous species is suitably terrifying, and I am grateful to have learnt from reading it.
I have read of two poisoning episodes to add to his – the first of an instance when a woman cooking Sunday lunch asked her adult child to fetch some onions from the store in the shed; lifted daffodil bulbs were mistaken for onions and the whole family was very seriously ill after eating. The second was of a man staying with friends who wanted to check some mushrooms which had been foraged before they were cooked. The suggestion was pooh-poohed and the meal went ahead. He was seriously poisoned and his kidneys so badly damaged that he had to have regular dialysis, and only restored to some kind of normal life after his daughter donated one of her kidneys for transplant. So reader beware, and heed the author’s detailed advice …
October 4, 2023
I did enjoy the style of writing of this book, with the whimsical anecdotes, and have captured a few handy tips from it that I didn't know, such as that fresh beech leaves are edible. It's also the source of my lockdown beech noyau liqueur, which was a delicious find! It's one to pick up throughout the year really rather than read cover to cover. I would probably give it 3.5 stars as I did enjoy it and can tell the author is really knowledgeable, I just wouldn't use it as an ID guide.
The only reason I don't rate it higher is for a couple of reasons: 1.) the poisonous species are added as a bit of an afterword at the end. Although there are a lot of beginner-friendly mushroom edibles that look nothing like poisonous species (and I think these are great to include), the world of fungi is VAST, and I don't think there was anywhere near enough ID comparisons given to comparing edible vs. non-edible vs. deadly poisonous. I get that it's a toss-up between being layman-friendly and anecdotal vs. being overly scientific and off-putting. Brits in particular are very on the cautious side compared to our European counterparts with regards to foraging. But on the other hand I think British people are more disconnected with the natural world and I hear of a lot of people getting into mushroom foraging with very little knowledge of ID features, based on "oh it looks kinda like that one", which is a bit risky in my mind. I really think the poisonous species have to be covered on the same page as their lookalikes, not a couple of hundred pages later at the end of the book. The details and photos provided on identifying less well known fungi and plants are rather sparse (and plants can be just as deadly).
The other reason is that in one section, the author alludes to a local nature reserve not being terribly happy with his foraging of rare species there. Fungi do reproduce via spores which are able to do so even when picked, so one or two people here and there shouldn't really be a huge problem. But he then advertises the name of the nature reserve to the entire book. Personally, and I know opinions differ on this, but I would keep foraging spots as locally-kept knowledge rather than widely advertise it in a book. Part of the fun of foraging is in getting out there and discovering things yourself rather than using the 'cheat codes'
The only reason I don't rate it higher is for a couple of reasons: 1.) the poisonous species are added as a bit of an afterword at the end. Although there are a lot of beginner-friendly mushroom edibles that look nothing like poisonous species (and I think these are great to include), the world of fungi is VAST, and I don't think there was anywhere near enough ID comparisons given to comparing edible vs. non-edible vs. deadly poisonous. I get that it's a toss-up between being layman-friendly and anecdotal vs. being overly scientific and off-putting. Brits in particular are very on the cautious side compared to our European counterparts with regards to foraging. But on the other hand I think British people are more disconnected with the natural world and I hear of a lot of people getting into mushroom foraging with very little knowledge of ID features, based on "oh it looks kinda like that one", which is a bit risky in my mind. I really think the poisonous species have to be covered on the same page as their lookalikes, not a couple of hundred pages later at the end of the book. The details and photos provided on identifying less well known fungi and plants are rather sparse (and plants can be just as deadly).
The other reason is that in one section, the author alludes to a local nature reserve not being terribly happy with his foraging of rare species there. Fungi do reproduce via spores which are able to do so even when picked, so one or two people here and there shouldn't really be a huge problem. But he then advertises the name of the nature reserve to the entire book. Personally, and I know opinions differ on this, but I would keep foraging spots as locally-kept knowledge rather than widely advertise it in a book. Part of the fun of foraging is in getting out there and discovering things yourself rather than using the 'cheat codes'
June 8, 2019
I've long been interested in foraging, but haven't had the expertise to do so up until now. I looked around my local bookshop and this looked like the most comprehensive book on the subject, especially because it's organised around what you can expect to find in a typical month in the UK.
The book has many strong points. It's beautifully designed with a lovely retro-style jacket, illustrated with a woodland scene. The text is detailed, witty and engaging, and the number of plants included is huge. Each species has a good description, photos and suggestions on how to use them. There's also plenty of advice on avoiding poisonous species, although this does scare me into not trying certain things.
I read the book cover to cover, and found it very engaging and interesting. I hope to use it for practical purposes too - it's the sort of thing that's very easy to dip in and out of, and I'm keen to try it out in the wild.
The book has many strong points. It's beautifully designed with a lovely retro-style jacket, illustrated with a woodland scene. The text is detailed, witty and engaging, and the number of plants included is huge. Each species has a good description, photos and suggestions on how to use them. There's also plenty of advice on avoiding poisonous species, although this does scare me into not trying certain things.
I read the book cover to cover, and found it very engaging and interesting. I hope to use it for practical purposes too - it's the sort of thing that's very easy to dip in and out of, and I'm keen to try it out in the wild.
April 24, 2019
There are lots of foraging books on the market but few, if any, written in such an engaging and humorous style. It does take a field guide to the next level - a book you want to sit and dip into whatever the season.
Clearly the making of foraged wines and spirits is something of a specialism (!) and a subject close to my heart so this is the year I finally get round to making beech leaf spirit - the recipe in this book is by far the easiest I have come across. Beech leaves, spirit and the sugar syrup. Can’t get much easier than that. The section on brewing elderflowers is excellent including the observation that a misguided brewer once made ‘hemlock sparkly’. The serious and lethal potential of wild foods is something that can’t be stated enough.
Reading this book feels like you have settled down after an excellent meal with a glass or two in the company of a wonderful raconteur and your learning is as easy as the flow of wisdom and wit.
Clearly the making of foraged wines and spirits is something of a specialism (!) and a subject close to my heart so this is the year I finally get round to making beech leaf spirit - the recipe in this book is by far the easiest I have come across. Beech leaves, spirit and the sugar syrup. Can’t get much easier than that. The section on brewing elderflowers is excellent including the observation that a misguided brewer once made ‘hemlock sparkly’. The serious and lethal potential of wild foods is something that can’t be stated enough.
Reading this book feels like you have settled down after an excellent meal with a glass or two in the company of a wonderful raconteur and your learning is as easy as the flow of wisdom and wit.
January 11, 2024
What a fantastic introduction into the mythical world of foraging.
John Wright gives us both confidence and caution in appropriate quantities while encouraging the utmost respect for the wild specimens we seek out, and the land they grow within.
The layout of the book is wonderfully palatable and encourages a long and comfortable reading time. It was a nice change for me from my normal regular sprints through a piece of writing. I will probably reread this, especially in monthly segments every year as I delve further and deeper into the woods as it were.
Highly recommend to anyone that enjoys nature and/or food.
John Wright gives us both confidence and caution in appropriate quantities while encouraging the utmost respect for the wild specimens we seek out, and the land they grow within.
The layout of the book is wonderfully palatable and encourages a long and comfortable reading time. It was a nice change for me from my normal regular sprints through a piece of writing. I will probably reread this, especially in monthly segments every year as I delve further and deeper into the woods as it were.
Highly recommend to anyone that enjoys nature and/or food.
May 19, 2020
Read this book cover to cover - loved it! It’s clear that John Wright is a master of his craft. And his writing style is hilarious. One thing that I found a little distracting and annoying at times is that the author clearly is quite a picky eater and he allows this to come through in his writing very clearly. Everyone has different tase and allowing people to make up their own mind wouldn’t hurt.
July 14, 2023
This was a super fun read! I had my doubts about it working as an audiobook but it really did and felt very conversational - the author is clearly very passionate about what he does. My only slight criticism is that it get like it lacked a conclusion, but this may be a fault of the audiobook form, where the appendices don’t necessarily come across as appendices. Still, it would have been nice to have a couple of paragraphs to round off the whole book, appendices included.
January 14, 2024
This will defo be going on my "favourite books of the year" list.
The writing is witty, clear, useful, and informative. There are plenty of ideas for how to use foods you forage and where to find them, alongside stories and opinions from the author. My one complaint is that not all of the pictures were clear or close enough to be adequate for identifying a plant, but those can be found elsewhere. Worth reading even if you never intend to forage
The writing is witty, clear, useful, and informative. There are plenty of ideas for how to use foods you forage and where to find them, alongside stories and opinions from the author. My one complaint is that not all of the pictures were clear or close enough to be adequate for identifying a plant, but those can be found elsewhere. Worth reading even if you never intend to forage
May 13, 2021
I’m not an experienced forager by any means but I loved this book. The author’s style is very engaging, he has obviously thought very hard about what to place where in his calendar & the sections on the law, poisonous plants/fungi, preserving finds etc.are excellent additions. I particularly appreciate the addition of seaweed, which is personally new to me. Walks will never be the same again.
October 2, 2022
I've enjoyed dipping into this book each month throughout this year. Good info, good photos. It's a shame John Wright seems to hate most of the things he forages!
'Let me assume that you are one of the very few weird people who like this stuff (after all, a lot of people seem to like disgusting things'
'Let me assume that you are one of the very few weird people who like this stuff (after all, a lot of people seem to like disgusting things'
October 20, 2023
Great stuff from John Wright-
for understanding nature and for foraging in the northern hemisphere - particularly in the UK/Great Britain. Even if you don't live in the UK, this a revealing and fascinating account of the natural world and its many treasures.
for understanding nature and for foraging in the northern hemisphere - particularly in the UK/Great Britain. Even if you don't live in the UK, this a revealing and fascinating account of the natural world and its many treasures.
October 10, 2024
I've really enjoyed reading this every month, and I'm a bit sad that there aren't chapters for November and December! It's been a lovely way to pass the year. John's writing has made me laugh out loud so many times, and his honesty about what is actually good to consume has encouraged me to forage more!
July 1, 2025
A must-read for any forager in Britain! Wright has packed this guide with so many useful photos. I really enjoyed his witty descriptions and culinary suggestions too! Descriptions don’t venture beyond culinary uses though; so if, for example, you’re looking for medicinal uses, this will disappoint on that front.
January 3, 2021
Such an informative book. A lot to take in but the idea of it been more of a reference book takes that pressure away.
The notion that you will refer to this book always means it can be thumbed for years
The notion that you will refer to this book always means it can be thumbed for years
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews