This part of the book covers just a few of the hundreds of wild plants you could be eating from your yard, garden, neighborhood, woodlot, fallow field, and organic farm. The plants covered are important and common wild foods, and are presented here with the purpose of giving you the detail and photographs necessary to know them well. More plants will be covered in future planned books.
Commonly thought of as weeds, these delectable foods are found anywhere the soil has been disturbed or is soft enough for the seeds to start growing. The better the soil conditions and moisture and the more these plants are growing in their own seasons, the more lush their growth.
There are big differences in flavor and texture between leaves gathered in their prime and ones that are too old. Some can go from delicious and tender to rank and chewy, so pay attention in the following chapters for how to determine when these greens are at their prime.
Plants are grouped into the four sections: foundation, tart, pungent, and bitter. Each plant within these sections has its own chapter, following the plant from emerging seedling to end-of-life seed production, from foraging to food, from preparation to eating. The content runs from basic to advanced, always with an eye on what you really need to know to make good use of these plants. Each chapter starts out with a brief summary of some facts found within. But as you will come to learn, the devil and the angels are in the details.