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The Skillful Forager: Essential Techniques for Responsible Foraging and Making the Most of Your Wild Edibles
The Skillful Forager is the ultimate forager’s guide to working with any wild plant in the field, kitchen, or pantry.
From harvesting skills that will allow you to gather from the same plant again and again to highlighting how to get the most out of each and every type of wild edible, trusted expert Leda Meredith explores the most effective ways to harvest, preserve, and prepare all of your foraged foods. Featuring detailed identification information for over forty wild edibles commonly found across North America, the plant profiles in this book focus on sustainable harvesting techniques that can be applied to hundreds of other plants. This indispensable reference also provides simple recipes that can help you make the most of your harvest each season.
From harvesting skills that will allow you to gather from the same plant again and again to highlighting how to get the most out of each and every type of wild edible, trusted expert Leda Meredith explores the most effective ways to harvest, preserve, and prepare all of your foraged foods. Featuring detailed identification information for over forty wild edibles commonly found across North America, the plant profiles in this book focus on sustainable harvesting techniques that can be applied to hundreds of other plants. This indispensable reference also provides simple recipes that can help you make the most of your harvest each season.
295 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 12, 2019
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244 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 3, 2021
This is an excellent resource for foragers to have in their personal libraries, or to check out from the library to expand your knowledge.
As an experienced forager, I've read a lot of foraging books. One thing you must keep in mind is that there is no way that one book could ever possibly be enough to help you learn to forage or cover all of the wild edibles that you can forage, much less teach you how to harvest, cook and preserve them. I've written books on foraging elderberries and acorns and each of those books is well over a hundred pages on only one plant. People who expect an all-encompassing foraging book in one volume are being frankly ridiculous.
All that said, this is an excellent resource to expand your foraging knowledge. The author goes into detail about a number of wild edible plants in different categories (leaves, bulbs and roots, stems, flowers, sap, bark, seaweed, mushrooms, etc.) with a nice assortment in each category. She also gives great charts, seasonal lists and instructions on ways to preserve your wild edibles (drying, canning, freezing, etc.) and basic recipes that are quite useful for how to cook types of wild edibles to make them taste best. For instance, she gives instructions on how to cook up bitter greens to compensate for their bitterness, and great ways to cook any wild mushrooms.
I'm not really a fan of the author's voice. Something about the way she talked rubbed me the wrong way at times. That's on me, though, and I cannot dispute that this is an incredibly helpful and valuable book that is sure to teach any forager some new tricks.
I was able to view a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.
As an experienced forager, I've read a lot of foraging books. One thing you must keep in mind is that there is no way that one book could ever possibly be enough to help you learn to forage or cover all of the wild edibles that you can forage, much less teach you how to harvest, cook and preserve them. I've written books on foraging elderberries and acorns and each of those books is well over a hundred pages on only one plant. People who expect an all-encompassing foraging book in one volume are being frankly ridiculous.
All that said, this is an excellent resource to expand your foraging knowledge. The author goes into detail about a number of wild edible plants in different categories (leaves, bulbs and roots, stems, flowers, sap, bark, seaweed, mushrooms, etc.) with a nice assortment in each category. She also gives great charts, seasonal lists and instructions on ways to preserve your wild edibles (drying, canning, freezing, etc.) and basic recipes that are quite useful for how to cook types of wild edibles to make them taste best. For instance, she gives instructions on how to cook up bitter greens to compensate for their bitterness, and great ways to cook any wild mushrooms.
I'm not really a fan of the author's voice. Something about the way she talked rubbed me the wrong way at times. That's on me, though, and I cannot dispute that this is an incredibly helpful and valuable book that is sure to teach any forager some new tricks.
I was able to view a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.
June 27, 2021
I would only recommend this book to folks who already have some solid experience identifying/eating wild plants. Beginners may need to start with something else, as clearly indicated several places on the outside of the book.
This author is marvelously honest and has a wealth of actual experience. She writes crucially that, yes, specific plant foods ARE edible but are too labor-intensive to be worth harvesting, or don't taste good except as survival food, or how to position your hands to swipe the most seeds at one time, or how to salvage your mistakes if you harvest mature leaves that are initially too fibrous to enjoy. Loads of practical reminders sprinkled throughout (i.e. if you harvest milkweed, only use a knife that you are okay with getting coated in latex! ahh thank you, Leda Meredith, for saving my best field knife).
She also spends time on plenty of wild edibles that other books leave out-- such as bark, sap, carob/honey locust pods. This book is so unique and I'm grateful to have found it!
This author is marvelously honest and has a wealth of actual experience. She writes crucially that, yes, specific plant foods ARE edible but are too labor-intensive to be worth harvesting, or don't taste good except as survival food, or how to position your hands to swipe the most seeds at one time, or how to salvage your mistakes if you harvest mature leaves that are initially too fibrous to enjoy. Loads of practical reminders sprinkled throughout (i.e. if you harvest milkweed, only use a knife that you are okay with getting coated in latex! ahh thank you, Leda Meredith, for saving my best field knife).
She also spends time on plenty of wild edibles that other books leave out-- such as bark, sap, carob/honey locust pods. This book is so unique and I'm grateful to have found it!
September 29, 2018
There's something so intriguing about foraging but I've always been nervous about it since I just don't know enough about what plants (and what parts of those plants) are edible. With this book, would I be completely comfortable identifying safe plants alone? Not in all cases, but I do think there's a lot of useful information here. The reader is given information on finding and identifying, harvesting, preparating and even preserving a variety of wild edibles. I was happy to see the author also stresses sustainable harvesting repeatedly. No book can contain all the information and the author does suggest using this book along with other field guides.
Thank you to Leda Meredith, Roost Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All comments are my own, unbiased opinion.
Thank you to Leda Meredith, Roost Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All comments are my own, unbiased opinion.
March 11, 2019
The Skillful Forager by Leda Meredith
Essential Techniques for Responsible Foraging and Making the Most of Your Wild Edibles
Having gone out to collect wild edibles a few times from the surrounding countryside with women from the village I was interested to see if any of the same wild things grow locally as the author highlighted in this book AND yes, many are found in both locations. We have sumac trees, amaranth, lambs ears, chicory, dandelion greens, wild garlic and many more out there for the picking...though it is much more fun to go with someone that knows what they are doing.
This book provides useful information from where to collect, safety, laws, feral vs wild, sustainability, tools, parts to eat (and avoid), preparation, use, storage and more while being filled with gorgeous illustrations to assist the novice. There are seasonal lists of plants to look for and where to find them. Chapters are divided up into: tree leaves; roots, tubers, rhozomes & bulbs; shoots & stalks; flower; fruit; seeds, nuts & pods; bark & twigs; sap; mushrooms; seaaweed; and ends with making the most of what you collect including universal recipes, flour. Pickling, making soda and wine. I would love to have this book in my library.
Thank you to NetGalley and Roost Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
Essential Techniques for Responsible Foraging and Making the Most of Your Wild Edibles
Having gone out to collect wild edibles a few times from the surrounding countryside with women from the village I was interested to see if any of the same wild things grow locally as the author highlighted in this book AND yes, many are found in both locations. We have sumac trees, amaranth, lambs ears, chicory, dandelion greens, wild garlic and many more out there for the picking...though it is much more fun to go with someone that knows what they are doing.
This book provides useful information from where to collect, safety, laws, feral vs wild, sustainability, tools, parts to eat (and avoid), preparation, use, storage and more while being filled with gorgeous illustrations to assist the novice. There are seasonal lists of plants to look for and where to find them. Chapters are divided up into: tree leaves; roots, tubers, rhozomes & bulbs; shoots & stalks; flower; fruit; seeds, nuts & pods; bark & twigs; sap; mushrooms; seaaweed; and ends with making the most of what you collect including universal recipes, flour. Pickling, making soda and wine. I would love to have this book in my library.
Thank you to NetGalley and Roost Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
September 22, 2018
While this book was packed with lots of great information on the techniques, rules and ethics of foraging, it was still missing quite a bit. It was like this book was trying to be everything to everyone, and ended up not really being anything except a high-level introduction with a handful of really in-depth specifics (how to make acorn flour, for example?). The info on identifying various wild edibles was pretty sparse, and there were only one or two pictures of only a few plants throughout the entire book. There were drive-by mentions of other plants, but without any other real information on them. Good thing I read this while in the vicinity of WiFi, as I referenced Google as often as this book! And honestly, this book didn't really make me want to try many of the foraged edibles - there weren't many descriptions of tastes/textures beyond "hey cook this or it will be inedibly bitter" or "some people eat this part of the plant but I find it mucousy" (barf!). I guess if I'm ever lost in the woods I might remember some of this info, but likely I'll eat the wrong thing, having not seen an actual photo of it, and die.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
May 31, 2021
Fantastic entree for beginning foragers, although Meredith is absolutely right that there isn't enough room for all she hoped this book could be. Well organized and written with an open, upbeat style to encourage exploration, an amateur forager like myself needs more photos- I found myself searching for images on my phone whilst reading along. Will definitely look for her other books for more details on this topic.
September 4, 2020
Very informative, Interesting, and inspiring. Just wish more photos of the plants.Most photos are very good but some not very clear.
November 22, 2021
Love having this handy resource on my bookshelf!
September 24, 2018
We always get asked about Foraging and the willingness to try it because it sounds very adventurous and dangerous (to some people) so I always am on the lookout on some foraging guides for our patrons. I am familiar with Leda's work and experience so we were excited to see that she has a new book on foraging coming out soon.
In the The Skillful Forager Leda Meredith examines new finds out in the wild corresponding with the seasons. We found a lot of new edibles such as rose hips, cattails, wild lillies and much more. But the skillful forager goes beyond listing the wild edibles that exist but Leda Meredith takes it one step further and examines ways to retrieve these edibles and prepare these edibles to eat and get the nutritional benefits that these wild edibles carry. Of course, Leda Meredith also shares some classic combinations also that can transform a simple dish to make it more colorful, and of course more delicious.
I can not wait to use this book as a potential candidate for our cooking demo that we do every month and this book got me more excited to eat more healthier and discover more wild edibles that exist in this world. I also loved the pictures, colors and layout of this book because I had the high expectation being a nature book that it will be colorful and that the colors correspond with one another and they certainly do. This will definitely find its place in our TX section of our Adult Non-Fiction collection and that is why we are more than happy to give this book. 5 stars!
In the The Skillful Forager Leda Meredith examines new finds out in the wild corresponding with the seasons. We found a lot of new edibles such as rose hips, cattails, wild lillies and much more. But the skillful forager goes beyond listing the wild edibles that exist but Leda Meredith takes it one step further and examines ways to retrieve these edibles and prepare these edibles to eat and get the nutritional benefits that these wild edibles carry. Of course, Leda Meredith also shares some classic combinations also that can transform a simple dish to make it more colorful, and of course more delicious.
I can not wait to use this book as a potential candidate for our cooking demo that we do every month and this book got me more excited to eat more healthier and discover more wild edibles that exist in this world. I also loved the pictures, colors and layout of this book because I had the high expectation being a nature book that it will be colorful and that the colors correspond with one another and they certainly do. This will definitely find its place in our TX section of our Adult Non-Fiction collection and that is why we are more than happy to give this book. 5 stars!
October 13, 2018
This book had the potential to be spectacular but it felt lacking in details, plant identification techniques, and photography/drawings of the plants. While it was quite good at being clear at stating what plants had similar characteristics but were instead poisonous---so you could avoid foraging those while searching for your intended target---it wasn't great about showing you the difference. Another downside was that it was more for a northern US audience, though of course there were plants that could be found everywhere, many are not available in the south.
I did like the format of the book, breaking it down into edible plant parts. I think that is helpful so you can have an idea of how you would use a particular plant or if you were in the mood to make something you could thumb through and see what plant parts may be available for you to forage.
I did appreciate that the author talked about the tools required for foraging and how to get your foraged materials home.
Paired with other in-depth foraging books this would be a good beginning for those venturing into foraging.
*I received and ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my review*
I did like the format of the book, breaking it down into edible plant parts. I think that is helpful so you can have an idea of how you would use a particular plant or if you were in the mood to make something you could thumb through and see what plant parts may be available for you to forage.
I did appreciate that the author talked about the tools required for foraging and how to get your foraged materials home.
Paired with other in-depth foraging books this would be a good beginning for those venturing into foraging.
*I received and ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my review*
December 9, 2025
A beautifully practical guide for anyone who loves the idea of gathering their own food. Leda Meredith has a calm, encouraging way of teaching foraging — not just what to pick, but how to pick it responsibly, sustainably, and with real respect for the landscape.
The book covers identification, harvesting techniques, flavour notes, and even how to use each plant in the kitchen. It feels less like a field manual and more like learning from an experienced friend who’s spent years wandering hedgerows and woods.
Clear, accessible, and grounded in real practice — a great guide for beginners and seasoned foragers alike.
The book covers identification, harvesting techniques, flavour notes, and even how to use each plant in the kitchen. It feels less like a field manual and more like learning from an experienced friend who’s spent years wandering hedgerows and woods.
Clear, accessible, and grounded in real practice — a great guide for beginners and seasoned foragers alike.
March 12, 2019
I received an ARC from Roost Books via NetGalley.
This book is a wonderful addition to the growing collection of foraging books out there. Clear instructions give the reader steps to hunt for delectable roots, shoots, tubers, bark, flowers, and fruits. How to harvest, prepare, and preserve is included for each plant. Even seaweed is included! Plentiful warning is given for certain plants and mushrooms.
The book is wonderfully balanced with recipes to put to good use your seasonal findings. Get ready to have something to search for every season - happy hunting!
This book is a wonderful addition to the growing collection of foraging books out there. Clear instructions give the reader steps to hunt for delectable roots, shoots, tubers, bark, flowers, and fruits. How to harvest, prepare, and preserve is included for each plant. Even seaweed is included! Plentiful warning is given for certain plants and mushrooms.
The book is wonderfully balanced with recipes to put to good use your seasonal findings. Get ready to have something to search for every season - happy hunting!
March 29, 2019
Just what I was looking for. I used to forage years ago, but it's been so long, I could use a refresher! This is a very useful book, in my opinion. It contains info on what to collect and where and when. Offers cautions and advice about collecting and how much to collect. It also offers recipes for using the plants you find. It's actually a very useful skill to have. I hate seeing perfectly good food go to waste; better to harvest it and preserve it. great book,; loads of photos.
April 23, 2020
I really appreciated the focus on ethical foraging that this book takes. It's so important to foster sustainable foraging for everyone, but especially for those new to the hobby. A great basic guide that includes up close pictures for ease of identification as well as quirky skills like making acorn flour. A great reference book to add to your bookshelves.
June 11, 2019
I liked the style of giving a common way for most plants in the category and then some 'rule-breakers'. It might be one I pick up for my collection because of its simplicity.
October 12, 2022
A fantastic basic guide to foraging. Excellent for beginners.
July 4, 2024
This compilation of plants contained nothing ground breaking, but I never expect any foraging book to be new or exciting. I was a little disappointed that the information was on the more lackluster side sprinkled with a few too many ancedotes. There were large portions that I just skimmed through hoping to answer some of my curiosities. Fortunately, I did manage to garner a few pieces of new information. Largely, I'm glad I borrowed this from the library instead of paying.
February 14, 2019
I am reviewing this book for Leda Meredith, Roost Books and NetGalley who gave me a copy of their book for an honest review
An excellent book which tells you what you should be on the look out for when out foraging and what you can do with your goods.
An excellent book which tells you what you should be on the look out for when out foraging and what you can do with your goods.
March 16, 2019
A book that will guide you through nature to identify, harvest and preserve edible plants needed to be written and here it is. It’s written for those looking to go a little further than simply looking at their surroundings, it’s meant for those wanting to live off the land in some way even if it’s just a little, to gain health and get back to the earth like we were meant to be.
Is a priceless reference tool for any herbalist!
Thank you to Netgalley, Leda Meredith, and Roost Books for the ARC! I truly enjoyed it and will be going back to it time and time again!
Is a priceless reference tool for any herbalist!
Thank you to Netgalley, Leda Meredith, and Roost Books for the ARC! I truly enjoyed it and will be going back to it time and time again!
March 23, 2019
This book is a great beginners guide to the world of foraging. It is extensive and cleverly written with a excellent reference section.
Highly recommend,
Highly recommend,
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews