Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest Paperback – Illustrated, February 4, 2011

I read the whole thing in one sitting, the author provides an enjoyable and educational read. This is NOT the end all be all guide to foraging in the NW but it is an EXCELLENT start and will remain with me for a long time. I already identified some Salal behind my house. The only improvement I would like to see is the addition of color photos along with the sketches. I think the sketches are wonderful but would be sooo much better if they were next to real examples. Don't miss out on this great guide!

Working in a restaurant and bar that prides itself in using locally foraged ingredients, this is a great guide for foraging. We keep a copy at the restaurant and now a copy at home along with other great publications on foraging in the northwest. This one's my favorite so far. It is very specific about edibles and easy to read and follow.

This is a handy little book that is brimming with useful information for foragers in the Pacific Northwest. It is an updated version of the 1974 edition. There are not many significant changes--a few plants like Bittercress and (controversial) Red Elderberry have been added to the edible list, and Bracken Fern has been relisted as poisonous. Other than that, the format, descriptions and the sections are largely the same.Plant structure, Seasonal availability, harvesting, drying and storing are discussed. More than 50 edible plants are listed and each plant is described according to: form, leaves, flowers, fruits, habitat, and edibility. Warnings are offered where applicable and there is a section dedicated to poisonous plants.The illustrations are still the graceful black-and-white line drawings by Mark Orson. While these are detailed, and show the plants at the optimal stage for harvesting, they are really not enough to go on as far as an absolute identification. If you actually intend to eat these wild plants, an additional field guide with color photographs is going to be necessary.Some intriguing recipes are scattered throughout the book along with plant folklore and information concerning traditional use by the Native people of this area. There is much practical wisdom gathered here, and I hope that all the public libraries of the Pacific Northwest will exchange their grimy and much-thumbed copies for this crisp new version!

I am a high school science teacher and had a recent trip up in the mountains and did want to make sure if different berries that a student might try to eat were safe. I was amazed to see all of the detail for a great deal of edible plants. I was disappointed to not see "deer clover" (tastes like a green apple). Other than that it has great diagrams that make it easy to identify the edible plants and which plants really need to stay away from.

This soft-cover book has very nice line drawings but I wish it had color photos. I wouldn't trust my health to eating a plant identified just from the drawings. For someone who knows what they're looking at this would be adequate and informative, but I'm not one of those people. I'll take this book along in my back-pack for "just in case" situations but will rely more on my stored belly fat if I'm in a survival situation! The book IS good reading though.

This book has tons of information on edible plants in our geographic area. I have a lot more understanding about what I may or may not be able to eat if I were stuck in the forest, or just wanted to try native edible plants.

Nice book, black and white but easy to carry with you and learn about things. My brother got this as a gift from me, he loves it.

This book is useful for a field guide but also interesting enough to read for fun! I am interested in gathering edible plants for consumption; with this book, I fell comfortable that I know what I am picking and eating.

A Christmas gift, however exactly what was requested for humane return of rockfish on catch and release.

Good book

Missing some key plants, pictures poor, packed with info. If you needed to forage on the west coast, this is the book that can tell you how. Not only tells you what you can eat, but filled with recipes that explain how to make these wild plants not so wild. My only real complaint is the pictures(HARD to identify most plants based on drawings alone).

excellent reference book which is well organized and very well presented - I'm looking forward to using this book in the field - thanks!

Good book, excellent information for the avid and beginner forager.