Weedy Wisdom for the Curious Forager: Common Wild Plants to Nourish Your Body & Soul

by Rebecca Randall Gilbert

Find Delicious and Healthful Plants Hiding in Plain Sight With more than fifty recipes, hands-on activities, and thought-provoking social themes, Rebecca Randall Gilbert shows you exciting ways to incorporate common wild plants into your life. This beginner-friendly book provides eight essential foraging lessons based on classes Rebecca taught at Camp Jabberwocky (the oldest sleepaway camp in the US for people with disabilities). You'll learn how to gather edible flowers, work with invasive species, find flavor correspondences, process healing plants, and preserve your harvest with fermentation. From roots, seeds, and sprouts to mint, sassafras, and beyond, this practical guide deepens your understanding of plants and reveals important life lessons. Includes a foreword by Michael Leon, longtime counselor at Camp Jabberwocky

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

Published June 8, 2022

About the author

Rebecca Randall Gilbert discovered her love of foraging at age six when she spent the summer with her grandmother in Martha's Vineyard island, Massachusetts. She has been exploring the subject—and grazing on the same farm—ever since. She teaches a variety of rural skills at Native Earth Teaching Farm, which she and her husband opened to the public in 2002.

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book put out from some folks that run Camp Jabberwocky (the oldest sleepaway camp in the US for people with disabilities). It is a very holistic book with a big focus on the spiritual aspect of foraging and nature, not in a religious way but a sort of metaphysical way. It features black and white drawings of many wild plants and tells how to safely forage, how to use various plants, etc. This is not the first book to pick up if you want a field guide but it is an excellent one if you want to start foraging and want to be inspired regarding the how and why.

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

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Weedy Wisdom for the Curious Forager is a nicely put together guide to wild foraging written and curated by Rebecca Randall Gilbert. Due out 8th May 2022 from Llewellyn Worldwide, it's 264 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

The author has a very down to earth (sorry, pun intentional) accessible and friendly style of writing and this book is set up like an activity workshop, with guided introductions to different plants, their uses, and allied information on how to utilize them to best effect. There are some recipes and tutorials, but mostly the focus is on the plants and how to find and understand them to a safe degree without harming the ecosystem or readers themselves.

Although the entire book has an alternative/holistic feel, this book in particular is presented in a competent and friendly way and doesn't drown the reader with overwhelming amounts of "woo woo" or pseudo-science (although there a mention of magic and interconnectedness the book is safety conscious and sound).

There are no photographs but the book is beautifully illustrated with pen and ink chapter frames and full page plant portraits. There's a table of contents, recipe lists, and a general index for finding information quickly.

Five stars. Illuminating, useful and worthwhile. This would be a superlative selection for public library acquisition, gardeners, foragers, smallholders, community gardens, and the like.

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

[Britney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a love for the woods and nature around me. Foraging is a way to nourish my soul and cultivate and respect the world around me. While I did enjoy the how the book was broken down into lessons, it was not what I was hoping/expecting when picking up this book.

Yes, the book has beautiful illustrations in it and an index in the back with names, species, origins, etc. but it's not functional as a field guide for actual foraging. I felt that the author's intent was more on social themes and healing your soul than identifying and nourishing your body - which means if you are new to foraging and hoping to use this book as a guide you could end up in trouble (there are a lot of poisonous look a likes out there).

If you are looking for a fun introduction to the ideas of what foraging can do for you - then pick this book up. If you are looking for a true field guide then you need to go elsewhere.

Thank you to Llewellyn and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

[LittleRead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m curious about many things and I’ve been teased for years for loving weeds as much as flowers…but maybe I just knew more than the others did. Okay, maybe not back then, but I was mesmerized by nature and was proven right as I got older and many of these same people are now embracing herbs and plants as well. As a Clinical Aromatherapist, I’m also interested in plants as well, so this was a great read for me.

[Kendra Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For awhile now I’ve been looking for an accessible book introducing me to foraging and herbs in a general way. I found many books but almost all of them listed an herb or plant and their uses when what I wanted most was general information about herbs and using them and finding them. This book delivered on all counts. Thank you.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Digital preprint copy provided by NetGalley—

It’s not a guide to foraging by identifying the plants per se, but it does contain recipes and stories, and has some lovely art. I would buy a hard copy of this if I could. Also includes an index at the end for plants, names and origin.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations and the explanations about the different plants. Foraging can be dangerous if you don't know the different plants and the author did a good job in explaining them.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[thebiblioaddict · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the information that was provided. I love that there were recipes as well as activities listed in order for you to learn as you go.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent info on foraging.