This new volume 2, like the first, is a user-friendly, pictorially based guide providing all you need to know to start genuinely enjoying wild foods. It helps readers successfully identify plants, develop gathering strategies, and learn preparation and cooking techniques. The unparalleled photographs and depth of understanding will knock your socks off.
All books in this series are designed to teach you things you can actually apply, help you identify edible plants at any stage of growth, give you close up full color photographs of the edible parts at the optimal stages of growth, and show you fun and tasty things to do with them. It lays a foundation and covers plants you are likely to come across on a daily basis no matter where you are in North America or Europe. It covers those plants in the kind of detail that you need to genuinely know and understand them. It clarifies and explains concepts poorly understood and commonly mis-represented in the wild food literature. Once you receive it, compare its coverage of any plant side-by-side to that same plant in any other book ever written. That comparison will reveal the value of this book, and represents what I will continue to do in future books.
Following volume 1’s success, volume 2 continues to help you understand the value and potential of wild foods. This book has 460 photographs and illustrations, fun and authoritative text, focused attention on plant details, nutrient tables, range maps, recipes, and a plethora of additional preparation and cooking tips. In this substantial 416 page book, author John Kallas gives you the knowledge and confidence needed to enjoy edible wild plants as a part of your regular diet.
This second volume of Edible Wild Plants adds 18 additional plants, their relatives, and look-a-likes, in 15 plant chapters, to the overall collection of plants covered between the two volumes in The Wild Food Adventure Series. This book makes it delightfully exciting to learn about and experiment with known wild foods that will be useful to all, from beginners to advanced foragers.
This book features plants in five flavor categories—foundation, tart, pungent or peppery, bitter, and distinctive & sweet. Organizing this way helps readers use the plants in pleasing and predictable ways. Imagine frequently including cattail, nettles, pokeweed, marsh mallow, daylily, wild radish, and everlasting pea in your meal planning knowing that you acquired these plants from your own foraging adventures. There is also a section devoted to identifying and knowing poison hemlock, often confused with wild carrot in certain stages of development. John Kallas and his Wild Food Adventure book series are here to help you learn quickly, process intelligently, and genuinely enjoy what you are eating.
John Kallas is one of the foremost authorities on North American edible wild plants and other foragables. He's learned about wild foods through formal academic training and over 45 years of hands-on field research. John has a doctorate in nutrition, a master's in education, and degrees in biology and zoology. He's a trained botanist, nature photographer, writer, researcher, and teacher. In 1993 he founded the Institute for the Study of Edible Wild Plants and Other Foragables along with its educational branch, Wild Food Adventures. John's company is based in Portland, Oregon, where he offers regional workshops, and multiday intensives on wild foods. For more information, see wildfoodadventures.com
More Accolades:
“I’m loving it. This book is great. With fantastic photos and detailed text, John shares all you need to know about some of our most practical wild food plants.” —Samuel Thayer, author of The Forager’s Harvest, Nature’s Garden, Incredible Wild Edibles, and Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants
“John Kallas sets the platinum standard for wild plant foraging guides. Edible Wild Plants Volume 2 features stunning photos and in depth text to properly identify, harvest, and prepare common wild foods for a gourmet dining experience.”—Thomas J. Elpel, author of 2013 Botany in a Day, 2014 Foraging the Mountain West, 2022 Primitive Living, Self-Sufficiency, and Survival Skills
“Edible Wild Plants, Volume 2 is a refreshing in-depth plunge into the world of wild foods and ethnobotany. I couldn’t put it down after seeing the remarkable depth and detail that Kallas brings to the subject that has attracted so many of us. The book is heavily illustrated. The photos are good and clear, and useful. In this Volume 2, Kallas answers every question you might have about each plant, their look-alikes, and the nutritional data. The bountiful recipes are a bonus, and worth trying. The book belongs in every library, whether your personal library, or the city library. Kallas has done all the footwork for you to begin – or continue – your study of wild foods with safety and confidence. The book gets my highest recommendation.”—Christopher Nyerges, author of several books in the Falcon Press Foraging Series: 2014 California, 2016 Oregon, 2017 Washington, 2018 Idaho, 2020 Arizona. Author of the 2014 Guide to Wild Foods and Useful Plants
“I’m thrilled to see this book, the second volume of Edible Wild Plants. These books are the next best thing to being out in the bush, at the edge of a marsh, or walking along a woodland trail with John himself. They embody much of his personality, his enthusiasm and his expertise. Fun to read, and informative. It is full of gorgeous, detailed photos of the plants and plant parts featured, and the delectable looking dishes he has created from them. Thank you, John, for this new treasure!”—Nancy J Turner, Ph.D., author of over 10 books on wild foods and ethnobotany, including 1988 Edible Wild Fruits and Nuts of Canada, 2006 Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples, 2007 Food Plants of Interior First Peoples, and 2009 Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms
“This book is excellent, and I keep learning more about plants I’ve known for decades. Edible Wild Plants Volume 2 provides a wealth of information for experienced foragers as well as beginners. It includes thorough but easy-to-understand ID info, lots of superb photos, harvesting and preparation details. As an experienced foraging teacher, I still learned many new, useful facts about species I’ve been using for over 40 years.”—Wildman Steve Brill, author of 2010 Identifying & Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants, 2010 The Wild Vegan Cookbook, and 2017 Foraging New York, A Falcon Guide