Edible vs Palatable

I personally enjoy going out and finding so called "edible" wild foods. Books like the Peterson series are really good at finding and identifying many of the plants that are out there. Always a good starting point, one that I too took. But I am impatient and was tired of eating things that were "edible." My wife sometimes tells me that the meals that I cook are "edible" and I am sure that you have all made food that was sometimes best described as "edible," so you know where I am coming from.

Over the years I have come to find some better books which I much prefer. The main focus of the following books is "Palatable" more so than "edible". In other words, which plants actually taste good? These have been my go to books, and I highly recommend them. In order of purchases and not preference.

1) The Neighbourhood Forager, by Robert K Henderson (great for finding food that people use to decorate their properties, or consider to be weeds)

2) The Forager's Harvest, by Samuel Thayer (lots of colour photos and details, highly recommended.)

3) Stalking the Wild Asparagus, by Euell Gibbons (the bible of wild gourmet eating)

Although we are late into the season, I would like to put down much of the information from these books onto this blog in the form of pictures and a walk through. Many of the plants you already know, but their uses may not be understood. I'd like to try and help you other there.

Chances are that my posts will not be regular, but I'll try to do the best that I can. I will be going out and taking pictures of plants that are local to us, and how I prepare them. Next year's posts around spring will likely be when this will really be able to take real shape and form.

To be continued...