I’ve been hearing a lot about The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods and I decided to buy it and see if this is indeed the book that I’ve been looking for all along.
I think that if you want to be prepared, you definitely need to know the plants, mushrooms, trees and berries that grow in YOUR AREA.
This kind of information can save us one day from starvation, but also I wanted a good source of information to have on me whenever I go in the outdoors. Unlike our forefathers, we no longer know all the plants growing around us.
When I ordered the The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods the estimated delivery time was a week. It arrived in 5 days, so that was a nice surprise as I usually have to check to see why my orders are taking so long to arrive.
The first thing l’ve noticed was the weight of the package. It felt heavy for a book.
This is a good-looking book, possibly the ‘sexiest’ book I have ever seen. When my wife saw it, she took it from my nightstand and used it as a coffee table book. There is something hypnotizing about it. Everyone who visits flips through it or asks about it.
It smelled like freshly printed paper. I decided to put it to one of my little tests. I call it the “will it stay open” test. I have a hard time with tiny books that always require your thumb to stay open.
Well, The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods doesn’t require my thumbs or any of my fingers to lay flat on a surface if need be.
The Forager’s Guide has 320 pages, and contains 400 wild foods.
What I like about The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods is that it looks like one of those books that can withstand wear and tear. When it comes to foraging books you have to be able to take them with you in the wild, whether it’s green pastures or nasty, muddy, rough terrain.
Mind you, this is a big book. And there is a reason why it’s big. It’s because of the photos.
Most books on foraging STILL use illustrations. Not only that, they use black and white illustrations.
For me this was the reason why most great books on foraging never made it past the cash register. You can’t EVER correctly identify a plant FROM ONE ANGLE, using a black and white drawing.
You might return home empty handed, or with a poisonous lookalike in your goodie basket. NOT the case with this book, as all pictures are clear and every plant has multiple photos.
You have an average of 2 plants per page, but a lot of pages have only one plant. Recipes are also provided.
This book is structured into 7 big chapters as you can see below:
- Herbs and Greens
- Shrubs and Berries
- Trees
- Lichens
- Mushrooms
- Seaweeds and Marine Grasses
- Poisonous and Toxic Look-Alikes
Each plant has a general description, complete with pictures from relevant angles, including the flower, fruit and leaves. Its edible parts are all listed, including at least one way to prepare them.
Key medicinal uses are a feature I found extremely interesting, and the benefits are clearly outlined so you’ll know which specific health problem the plant is good for.
To make things easier a map is put next to every plant and that saved a lot of my time since I was particularly interested in foraging wild plants in ONE specific area of the U.S.
You also get a tried and tested recipe to highlight the nutritional qualities and flavors of each plant, and full blown pictures of poisonous lookalikes.
For every plant you’ll find:
- Picture with the whole plant
- 2 pictures of distinctive parts for each plant (leaves, flowers, berries, stem, roots, etc)
- Map for each plant
- General description, complete
- Flower and Fruit
- Leaf
- Edible Parts
- Key medicinal uses
- How to harvest and eat
- One of the best recipes for this plant.
- Poisonous Lookalikes
These are not features you see all together in one book, or at least I haven’t seen them in one place.
I believe this is one of the most important books you can keep in your home not only as a forager or survivalist, but as a person who is concerned about depending on supply chains that could collapse at the drop of a hat.
This is one book you probably won’t want to have missing from your bug out bag and survival stash, as this is a golden ticket to food independence, especially when you are on the go.
Despite all the features that have been put together masterfully in this one book, I must say that there is something that I wish was done differently.
When foraging in the wild I find it easier to use a smaller book that is easy to carry.
Sadly, this book is not pocket sized and it doesn’t have detachable pages. It’s big and it is heavy, it’s not easy to take on a hike, but at the same time it would have been impossible to have good large pictures with plants and so many details in a pocket size book.
Overall The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods is a valuable find. I expected a thorough guide, but I was pleasantly surprised by the wealth of lost knowledge uncovered in this book. I feel that this is great value for money and there are so many things to learn from this book.
If you haven’t already got your copy of this book, go ahead and:
Click Here to Get Your Copy of The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods!
You may also like:
How To Collect Pine Pollen – A Long Lasting Super Food
The Lost Remedies of Our Grandparents That You Should Still Have At Home (Video)
6 Reliable “Pocket” Revolvers For Off-grid Defense
How to Tell the Difference Between the Poisonous Virginia Creeper and the Healthy American Ginseng
It would be nice to know who the author of the review was.
LCC- Reading this article on a laptop it said by- Claude Davis. On my phone however it does not show the author.
Mikek: Interesting. My laptop just shows a dash for the author. That’s why I was interested. This sounds like one of the books that Claude is selling on this site. That’s also why I feel it is important to know who the author of an article is. There should be at least some bio info so that we can have an idea of the expertise of the author to write an article. This site has had some articles written on animal husbandry that were by folks who were actually raising the animals they were talking about. That is whaat I am looking for in articles about prepping, someone with expertise in the field about which they write.
If it is an article speculating about what will happen in the future, well, we all can do that. I can speculate about the effects of an EMP as well as anyone except perhaps a PhD in electronics or electricity or some other closely related field.
Someone can write about what they feel is important which is opinion and we are all experts in our own opinions. A fair number of followers of this list post their opinions frequently. Frequently there are valid points of view which cause one to think more deeply about their own cherished viewpoint.
It says by Claude Davis. However his book is one of the bonuses that is given with the purchase of this one. So, not entirely unbiased. The book does look really cool though.
‘Quote’ – “”It would be nice to know who the author of the review was””
IF you look at the top, right under the title, the authors name is clearly printed.
Hi,
Claude here.
Your feedback on our book review was much appreciated.
Claude Davis is not the author of this book. I would have really liked to write it on my own, however, the author of the book, Dr. Nicole Apelian, did a very great job!
The book is well written and designed and I am really glad that she released “The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods” at the right time.
This book is the real deal!
Once again, thank you for your great comments you contribute each and every time.
God Bless,
Claude
Most interesting book review and I will buy it., read it, and give it a place on my prepper book shelf. No matter how concise the instructions might be, or how detailed the pictures, I will not pick alone or without someone who is experienced. Use to go out with my grandmother every spring and fall. She was an expert. I on the other hand wasn’t paying enough attention to have the confidence I need to venture forth into the wood. There are guided groups here that forage in city parks. That’s one place I would pick unless I was really really hungry!
OTOH, the native plants featured in such a foraging lecture will be found all over the Northeast. If it’s free, it might be a fun way to spend the day and you’ll learn something. It also might give you an opportunity to network with other prepper minded people.
Just ordered this book a few days ago. I was worried you were going to point out it was not a smart choice, but I see I made a good one.
I ordered a copy of this book a few days ago after seeing a video and I’m happy to read that it has Claude’s approval.
I bought the book and e-book. The review is spot on… We are very pleased with the book format. Especially the maps showing where the plant, bush or tree grows.
I purchased”The Lost Ways” same author same cover style. All the pages looked photocopied
My nephew was sickened by a plant (barely recognizable in the shoddy pictures).
I’m sure the copy going out for review was pristine.
Steer clear of these offerings. If the SHTF
and the “ebook” is not powering up…
Maybe you can use it as firestarter. I wouldn’t even recommend it for that.
Sorry Mick …. Claude is not the author of this book. The author is Nicole Apelian, Ph.D.
She also wrote: “The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies” as well as many articles, teaches, and was a participant in “Alone”. I think you might do some additional research. Your comment sounds more “emotional” than thought out. Foraging in the wild is not for everyone; especially a newbie like your nephew who undoubtedly did not have the proper training. He should probably go out with someone who is schooled in foraging for a proper introduction.
I would like to know exactly the areas this book covers.
I live in the Southeast zone 7, I need to have information on the plants and edibles that grow there.
share it, share this article. I always do because it’s important to get these things out. niio
Well, I am a sucker for books. I ordered this book. Much to my disgust, I see it is through Clickbank. My experiences with Clickbank have been such that my opinion of vendors using Clickbank as a clearing house can best be described as dismal. I have never had a successful transaction with Clickbank and have always gone to my credit card issuer to get the transaction cancelled. I hope that this is the rare exception. Stay tuned to this list as I will be issuing my report on the book and the transaction at a later date.
The most significant criticisms about plant foraging books listed on Amazon is the poor quality of the reproductions. I was interested in the plant book published by the U.S. Army. The reviews were, at best, terrible. I always read the pans first. Some folks just can’t bring themselves to say that the emperor is buck nekked. They have to admire his clothes because that is the nice thing to do.
If this whole transaction and the book turn out to be a wart on the witch’s nose, you can count on me to say so.
I’m still waiting for a book I ordered through them. Also waiting for an answer they were supposed to send to my email.
Hi Laura,
Thank you so much for your interest in our work.
Our support team will contact you regarding the order, through email, from support@selfsufficientbackyard.com.
If there is anything else, you can contact them directly through email.
God bless!
They didn’t specify that this was an ebook until after the purchase. We’ll see how the refund goes. BOHICA
I just purchased the book… we’ll see how it turns out.
A) it does look a lot like a Claude Davis book ‘The Lost Book of Remedies’ , which I do like along with his other two books ‘The Lost Ways – Vol’s l & ll
B) those readers who bought the ‘digital’ copy by mistake, they just clicked the wrong ‘buy now’ button. They are all available for the same price. Printed only. Digital only and Printed plus Digital around $38 ea. (+s/h) and…
C) as Left Coast Chuck stated, I too hate the ‘click bait’ offers. It takes 5-7 minutes or more to even fast forward through the additional offers before you can finally purchase your original purchase. I’m used to it now after three previous purchases but it’s still annoying.
D) But on each purchase, the shipping time was excellent, all three (separate) purchases arrived in a week or less and for that…thank you.
Thank you for putting it up here that it is an ebook. From the review you would not think that to be the case. That’s the one thing that will stop me from ordering a book. If SHTF then ebooks are just plain useless. Who wants to spend the money on the ink and paper to make it an actual book although it would have the advantage of having removable pages if you were to do that. If there is an option to get an actual hard copy then that I would do. I saw that Claude had to wait 5 days for his copy which seems to be an actual book but if it’s ebook then there wouldn’t be any waiting. I’d rather wait. I’m a patient person and I’d rather have a book that I can hold in my hands and turn real pages instead of clicking. I did want to order it though. I will see if I can find a way to get an actual book and update if I do.
Hi Velvetjade,
Thank you so much for your interest in our work.
The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods is available both in digital and physical copy.
It comes with 3 digital Bonuses: The Wilderness Survival Guide, Household Remedies – How to recover Naturally at Home and 104 Long Lasting Foods You can Make at Home.
You can purchase the book using the link above.
If there is anything else I can help with, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
God bless,
Claude
Thank you Claude. I truly appreciate your taking the time to respond to my question. That truly does change everything. You and yours take care and stay safe. This Covid stuff is far from over and truth be told I don’t think that it ever will be completely and I doubt we will never go back to the way it was before (normal) when you think about the government considering making getting ‘the shot’ mandatory or some sort of mandate. BTW, I recall reading (I believe it was on the CDC site) that there was zero testing on Cancer patients and the effects of ‘the shot’. That’s a very large group of people. If it is made ‘mandatory’ then I can only see this as another attempt for more freedoms and rights to be taken away from us. How much more will they try to take from us before it ends? I don’t know about the rest of you but I sure as heck don’t want them having more power. The government does NOT serve the people any longer and hasn’t for a very long time. I see the ‘Money Illusion’ that is taking place already but a lot don’t get it. That’s not even mentioning the fact that the government has no clue as to how to ‘budget’ judging by the deficit the US has racked up in 2020 alone with much more to come this year as well based on the reading I have done. Some people don’t even know that the ‘Federal Reserve’ is not a branch of the government but banks that the Federal Reserve owns. A president warned a very very long time ago to not allow the banks to gain control but on Dec 23rd 1913 W. Wilson signed the ‘Federal Reserve Act’ (I’m not saying that everything he did while in office was ‘not good’ but that decision imo was not a very good one) so…here we are. Take a look at the ‘value’ of your home today and see if appears to have increased. If you think that the value of your home has truly increased (mine ‘appears’ to be over 20k higher than when I purchased in 2017 and that ‘increase’ did not happen over time. In fact it only took a few months from EOY 2020 to March of 2021 for it to happen) so you may want to do a little research of your own on this. That’s the ‘Money Illusion’ and what it really means is the value of the dollar is decreasing exponentially. Take a look at the increases in the cost of things like lumber (up over 300% if I remember correctly) meat ( I don’t remember the exact amount but I am fairly certain it was up over 52% ore more) and well, pretty much everything. What people do not see is that we are running out of resources for many things (most likely due to the massive population that the world is having to sustain. I could be wrong here so if anyone can provide me with any information that is different than what I have been able to find, please provide me your resources. I hope I’m wrong but I honestly don’t see any other explanations that make sense). Why are car dealerships trying so desperately to buy up old vehicles at ‘top dollar’ (We’ll buy your car even if you don’t buy ours.?.?.?) and then selling them at a much higher price than a used vehicle should ever be sold for. Thank you again Claude for the info and forgive me for my rant but I am very concerned that we may soon be headed for a far greater ‘depression’ than in what was experienced in 2008 as I watch just how much money is being approved for the Federal Reserve to print. I am truly scared at this point. This book is now a necessity. BTW, on the brighter side of things, the company I work for (I won’t mention them here but it is a very very large company that treats their employees like people and truly cares about us) recently had a summer celebration event and gave away many prizes. To be in the drawing for the one you truly wanted you had to write an essay as to how it would make your life better and how you would use it. I won the SoloStove Bonfire (on sale right now for a little over $250 but regularly priced at $350) and out of the thousands of employees there were well over 20 of those given to those with the best essays and that was only 1 of at least a minimum of 11 different ‘prizes’ one could enter the contest for. I don’t remember the others because I only wanted the Solostove (It’s practically smokeless 100% of the time) so I really didn’t care about the others but they were not ‘cheap’ items. They also had random drawings for cash prizes with a minimum amount being $200 that someone could be ‘randomly’ selected to win just for entering the contest at all. Unfortunately I didn’t win cash too but I’m 100% satisfied with what I did get so no complaints here. The essay I wrote was in regards to what something like this could mean to someone like me and that it could be something that I would consider to be truly a ‘life saver’ and definitely something I wanted and needed for my ‘stockpile and preparedness’ items in a SHTF scenario. Ok, I’m done now but want to say Thank you just one more time for your response Claude. God Bless, take care, and stay safe. Vj.
typo when I said ‘will never’ go back to I meant for that to be ‘will ever’ go back to ‘normal’ or the way things were before Covid. I proofread over and over so I am annoyed w/myself that I missed that.
I an also annoyed with myself that I did not notice until after posting that somehow my ‘name’ somehow got changed to VelvetjadeVelv. I think I have fixed that now though.
When I was a kid I found a little 50 page pamphlet called Key And Guide To The Woody Plants of Dallas County. Written by Norma Stillwell in 1939. Simple little guide with line drawings it taught you how to identify plants by their leaf and flower characteristics. Anybody could go out to the woods in Dallas County for a month and learn from that little book all the trees and shrubs in the area. It’s not rocket science learning how to key out trees and shrubs (wildflowers are more difficult because you have to learn flower anatomy, grasses even harder), I’ve found even the best photo books leave you guessing. There are beginner level guides for every part of the country, if you’re willing to make the effort there’s no limit to what you can learn.
That little pamphlet has been on my bookshelf for almost 60 years, always in reach. Illustrated by Alice Ferguson. There are 286 species in it, all of which can be keyed out. It snuggles up to the 1800 page masterpiece by Correl and Johnston, Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas, which does not fit in my pocket.
I just purchased the book in the last hour… we’ll see how it turns out.
A) it does look a lot like a Claude Davis book ‘The Lost Book of Remedies’ , which I do like along with his other two books ‘The Lost Ways – Vol’s l & ll
B) those readers who bought the ‘digital’ copy by mistake, they just clicked the wrong ‘buy now’ button. They are all available for the same price. Printed only. Digital only and Printed plus Digital around $38 ea. (+s/h) and…
C) as Left Coast Chuck stated, I too hate the ‘click bait’ offers. It takes 5-7 minutes or more to even fast forward through the additional offers before you can finally purchase your original purchase. I’m used to it now after three previous purchases but it’s still annoying.
D) But on each purchase, the shipping time was excellent, all three (separate) purchases arrived in a week or less and for that…thank you.
I am about to buy a copy of this book because (1) it is what I have been looking for now that I have paurchased 15 acres of forest with a million unidentified plants, and (2) I like a book with pictures … even though I HATE the Clickbank purchasing, and I HATE being upsold a lot of other books I don’t need or want before I can finish the purchase.
On the other hand, while the review read nicely and was inspiring, the fact that Davis has written other books with this author makes him a biased reviewer — to say the least.
Having a difficult time ordering this book Clickbank is not accepting payment.
How can I order this book?
Farmer 2 days ago
Sorry Mick …. Claude is not the author of this book. The author is Nicole Apelian, Ph.D.
The question was, ” It would be nice to know who the author of the REVIEW was.” NOT who wrote the book itself.
I purchased this book along with many others from click bank etc. I like the rest of you hate the up sales. I have to say the shipping is always fast and I have never had a problem purchasing. The book arrived today ( I think it took 3 days).. I have strong Horticulture background and must say that the descriptions of the plants both written and pictures is spot on. The range maps are very good. The recipes sound well, interesting. Is the book worth the money only you can decide as for me I have always stated that if I learn one thing from a book that it was worth the purchase price. I give this book a thumbs up
I like the books offered on this website, and always feel reassured that it’s offered through Click Bank. In my experience, Click Bank has always reputable and helpful. They are easy to reach by phone, and very responsive. They keep records of purchases made through them, and it’s easy to cancel orders.
How do you order this book? I have tried numerous times and it always declines my payment. I do not have payPal so asked my daughter to order it and she was unable to complete the order also. Do you have the phone number so maybe I can order it through a live person?
This book does not have the large pictures in it like the ad says. I would not be able to tell the difference of a lot of the plants shown. The book is not what it is built up to be .
But it is better than any other book on the subject. If you need larger photos or print order the ebook alonw with the hard copy…
I promised a review of the book and the transaction earlier, so here it is. For a first time, a Clickbank transaction worked as it should. Clickbank even notified me that the book had shipped. Delivery was two days from the notification which is quite rapid for printed material which is the cheapest rate one can ship by in the postal rate schedule. It has been that way for a long, long time. It was originally put in place to encourage literacy among the farm population who might not have access to a nearby library. However it generally is not the fastest way to ship via the post office.
The book is professionally done. I had read a review that said the photos were photocopied. I haven’t looked at every single photo, so if there are a couple of photocopied pictures I haven’t discovered them as yet. What I have seen so far are professionally done photos printed clearly.
I was a printer and thus feel qualified to pass on the quality of printed products and this is a professionally printed and bound book. It may seem expensive at first glance, but I am sure the publisher did not order an initial order of 500,000 copies. In printing as in many mass produced items, the larger the run, the cheaper the unit cost. It doesn’t help to order 500,000 copies if sales only reach 5,000. This book is not going to reach sales figures as did 50 Shades of Gray. As far as I can tell there is zero sex in the book, kinky or otherwise.
Yeah, It would be nice of there were more pictures of the plants in question with different views. Would you pay $500 for such a book? I thought not. The thing I like best about it was that the author shows the growing regions of the various plants she describes. Thus I don’t have to be concerned if I am looking for a seaweed that only grows off the coast of Maine. Or if I see a field of something that only grows along the eastern seaboard, I probably am not identifying the plant correctly and should look at a different plant. In my opinion, the range of growth is an extremely important feature of any book relating to foraging wild plants.
There was one major omission that I know about. There probably are more but I don’t have a PhD in Native Plants of North America. Buckwheat is a crop plant but grows wild in all parts of California. That is a factoid I picked up by taking a class on native plants of California. I always wondered what the huge fields of some kind of plant in the Owens Valley were. Duhhhh. That’s buckwheat, Dude. The authoress doesn’t mention buckwheat at all. That may be because it is also a cultivated crop in addition to having native species growing everywhere. A minor point.
Overall, I feel the book is a valuable addition to my prepper library and well worth the money. I think you should add it to your personal library. The Clickbank experience was a first for me but from what other folks have said, I have just been unlucky so far. This experience was at least on a par with other on-line purchases through regular credit card transactions. It doesn’t reach the level of Midwayusa or Amazon Prime. It is more on the level of some of the low cost purveyors on line. Not the best but not the worst.
Stealing a line from a couple of motion picture reviewers, I give it two thumbs up.
I got the book 2 days ago and I am very impressed with it. It feels like it will stay together if I just try to keep it clean. I am just starting to get into foraging and do not know didlysquat about the subject yet. That said it seems to be pretty clear and I really like the little maps that show the distribution. Its one of the best prep books that i have bought. I am going to take a few classes but I really believe that that book is going to be the key to my success. I do not like the size but I can live with that problem. I have never had a better deal on a book EVER
This is the book I have been looking for
Incredible reference material…
I tried to order the hard-copy Forager’s Guide and wanted the 3 digital publications that were promised for the price of $49. The next page that came up offered a digital version of the Forager’s guide and the promised 3 additional digital books. So I started downloading with the Guide. NO additional offer of the other 3 books was offered! This order was for my sister who is on a very limited income and lives in a nursing home. How can I get the publications I ordered for her: the hard copy of the Guide & 3 additional digital volumes?
looks nice as for me
Did you know that the top 4 reasons for the development of Dapps will be the future. On this post, 4 reasons have been given for this, you will know by reading them how true this thing is. Because I also got information about the chat gpt 3 courses after reading from here. There is one advantage of this course. If you do this course, then you will become an expert in AI technology.
Thank you for this review. Too bad I didn’t hear about this book in college when I was in the biology department. I didn’t have enough information on this topic in the library books. Still, my friend advised me the advice o buy a thesis proposal that may help students like me who are struggling to find information. That’s why I decided to seek help from https://paperell.net/buy-research-proposal and I’m glad I did. This source provided valuable resources that helped me expand my research and collect enough validated data. Such research needs time, so I advise you to allocate it correctly and not put everything off until the last moment.
I just placed my order and received a message that I would be caled to confirm. The number was incorrect that came up so I didn’t confirm. Is there a number I can call to speak to someone? Thank you.
Hello could anyone tell me how thorough the information in this book is that related to the area of Idaho where I live? Southeastern Idaho Idaho Falls area. I can only forage in this rea as I can no longer see to drive. So I would not want to invest in this book if the information is not extensive due to my super modest income sources. Thank you