Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants »

Naturalist-Author "Wildman" Steve Brill has been leading public foraging tours in parks throughout the greater New York area since 1982. He works with schools, day camps, environmental organizations, museums, parks departments, nature centers, scouts, garden clubs, and educational farms, from March to December.

His Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not-So-Wild) Places (HarperCollins Publishers, 1994) is considered a classic on the subject.His innovative Wild Vegan Cookbook (Harvard Common Press, 2002) is changing the way people think of preparing gourmet food. His Shoots and Greens of Early Spring in Northeastern North America (self-published, 1986 and 2008) teaches people how the foraging season begins, and his Foraging With the Wildman DVD series, along with the website he created, is showing people how it's all done. But he's still best known for having been handcuffed and arrested by undercover New York City park rangers for eating a dandelion in Central Park!

Steve Brill's comprehensive guide to edible wild plants has a couple of features that make it one of the best. First, it's sensibly organized by season, and second, it covers the plants you're really most likely to encounter, especially in urban and suburban settings. Brill includes detailed line drawings for identification, plus recipes and information on cooking with the plants and on using them for medicinal purposes. His knowledge is sound, and his style is enjoyable -- a fun and informative book.