Book Review - Nature's Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer
A comprehensive guide to identifying, harvesting, and preparing edible wild plants found throughout North America, Nature's Garden focuses on 41 common species and combines detailed identification advice with practical information on when to gather each plant, which parts are edible, and how to process and cook them safely. Complemented by extensive color photographs and seasonal charts, the book helps readers locate and make use of plants such as burdock, cattail, and sumac while developing a deeper understanding of each species.
Thayer also explores the ecological, historical, and cultural significance of these plants, with a selection that highlights many species not covered in his earlier work, The Forager's Harvest. The result is a guide that serves as both a practical field reference and an in-depth resource for anyone interested in wild foods and sustainable foraging.
4.5 stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
What led me to this book was curiosity about how people foraged in earlier times, along with an interest in post-apocalyptic stories. That eventually turned into a real interest in learning practical survival skills, just in case I ever find myself needing them.
I learned that Nature's Garden is a sequel to The Forager's Harvest, but it is designed to stand on its own and doesn’t require readers to be familiar with the earlier book. It is not a traditional field guide meant to be carried on hikes or flipped through while out foraging in the woods. Instead, the author wants readers to take a different approach: choose a featured plant, study its detailed account, and then go looking for it in the wild. The combination of detailed descriptions, extensive color photographs, and comparisons to similar-looking species—including some poisonous look-alikes—makes it easier to identify plants accurately at different stages of growth.
The plants featured in the book cover a wide range of edible resources, including nuts, greens, shoots, roots, tubers, teas, fruits, berries, seeds, and flowers, and those that appear in a variety of environments. While the book is not meant to be a complete regional guide, it clearly reflects the author’s extensive experience in the American Midwest. As a result, species more common to the Far North, the West, or the Deep South are less represented. To help readers get a better sense of its scope, the author includes a helpful chart showing where the book’s coverage is most applicable, as shown in the photo I took below.
One of my favorite sections is the chapter on dandelions. It goes into detail about the plant’s habitat, as well as how to harvest and prepare it. I also appreciated that the author doesn’t hesitate to point readers toward outside sources if they want to explore a plant in greater depth or continue researching related topics. This thoughtful addition encourages continued learning beyond the pages of the book.
Today, if cut off from purchased supplies, most of us would starve in the midst of plenty. Many people are shocked when I assert that one could subsist on nothing but food obtained from the wild. I find this amusing, since for most of human history there was no other food.
Something about finding a wild plant and eating it appeals to everybody. Even those people who seem totally disinterested in Nature will have half a dozen questions for anybody they see pulling up a rank weed and sticking it in his mouth. This interest is more than just curious disapproval; it is a manifestation of a deeper inkling within us. Foraging is the oldest occupation of humankind. For most of our history we knew no other way of living. We are built, both mentally and physically, to be hunters and gatherers. Somewhere inside of us we are all foragers, no matter how much we have lost touch with that aspect of out nature.
Samuel Thayer is a wild harvester that I have immense respect for. I always tell people that if they are going to buy one book buy his and if they are only going to buy two books buy both of his. They are comprehensive, easy to understand, no bullshit, detailed, and honest. They are personal experience and not just regurgitation from past foragers.
I have e-mailed him a few times with questions I've had. He always answers them promptly. Yesterday I e-mailed him with concerns and questions I have on a possible project I may start. Well I'm going to start it but I think I'm going to do it for personal reasons first and maybe look at turning it into a book later on. Oh also he connected me with a reporter for a national newspaper that I did an interview with.
He answered my questions in kind. Gave me advice which I greatly appreciate.
Well in his e-mail he also asked if I would be willing to help him in the future with field testing his plant descriptions and giving suggestions on improving them. Of course I said yes I would be happy to help.
