Customer Reviews

Wild Edibles of Missouri

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Wild Edibles of Missouri by Jan Phillips and published by the Missouri Conservation Commission, is a very useful little guide for those who are interested in such things. Each plant addressed and assessed by the author is accompanied by a very well done black and white drawing. In addition to this, there are around fifty color plates of some of these plants. Both drawings and color plates are very well done. The author has given us a very useable text, describing the plant, its habitat, usage, and personal notes from the author as to usage and harvesting time and techniques.

This book, when used, needs to be read quite carefully, and I certainly suggest that you use other works to supplement it. While this actual work as a whole is quite good, this is an area where you certainly should not make any mistakes. Some, and indeed most, of the plants featured here are quite edible, but on the other hand, most can make you quite ill if they are not prepared correctly, harvested at the wrong time or if the wrong part of the plant is used or if too much of the plant is eaten. The author, thank goodness, has emphasized this, but it is sort of human nature to read and see more or less what you want to see...sort of wishful thinking. I have personally been acquainted wiht a number of people who have gotten into big trouble this way. Use this book, but, as I said, read carefully and don't take chances. If there is even the slightest doubt in your mind, DON'T EAT IT! Better yet, if you harvest from the wild, it is best to start, go and be taught by and with someone who absolutely knows what they are doing. I have been dealing with these plants, and eating them, for well over fifty years now. I started learning from old granny women years ago down in the hills, and have added to my knowledge over the years. I still get tripped up now and then!

A personal note: As the author has pointed out in her introduction...do not think for one second that you can go out and live off the wild and save groups of money in doing so. Gathering most of these edible plants are extremely work intensive, and to be quite frank, many of the plants, while indeed edible, simply do not taste all that good, despite what you may have heard. In addition, many of these plants are growing very difficult to find. Due to development, farming and over harvesting, some of them verge on becoming endangered. Don't be greedy! Secondly, remember that with many of these growing things, you are competing with wildlife. Hey, you have a never ending supply of food at stores, the critters just have what they find in their environment...give them a break!

A personal rant! Between food gatherers, and the "craft people," there has been a major impact on our wild areas in Missouri. Always ask permission from the land owner before you go out gathering and pillaging! As an example, we have bittersweet growing in our area. This is a beautiful vine with nice berries. Missouri is known for it. The craft people have pushed this plant to the point of nonexistence in some areas. I had a wonderful fence row growing and it has been completely stripped and is now gone from just people driving by, cutting it, so they can make nice little craft things for their homes or to sell. Another one is the wild grape. We have a large amount of these vines, but fewer now. I actually caught two ladies tromping through my woods ripping vines and cutting. I am a nice fellow, so I did not have them arrested for trespassing, nor did I shoot them, but did give them a verbal lashing. When you buy one of those nice grape vine wreaths at the local craft store, please keep in mind that this practice has had a major impact on wild life in Southern Missouri and has certainly had an impact on the three or four jars of jam I make ever year. And Cattails! I have a small swampy area with a very small pond surrounded by cattails. I have been photographing this area for years, season after season. It took one family with for kids from St. Louis, to completely destroy this wonderful micro-ecco-system, and they did it is just two hours. Hey, I don't begrudge anyone a meal, but did they have to destroy the whole place?

Enough ranting....this is a fine little book. If you are interested in such things, as I am, than it is well worth adding to your library. The book is well done, very informative and the art work is great.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Many are familiar with blackberries, pawpaws, and black walnuts as tasty wild foods. This book covers those and less known edibles like goatsbeard (cook the root like a potato) or honewort (cook the stems like asparagus, put the leaves in a salad).
This excellent guide shows a sketch of each plant with its flowers or berries or nuts. It gives the species, flowering dates, a description, habitat, location in the state, time to collect it, and its uses.
Three or four paragraphs supplement that info with the author's own experience using the plant. In some cases she gives specific amounts such as for making jam from ground cherry. Other times she is brief such as "put the raw early leaves of hollyhock in a tossed salad."
Forty-seven plants get full color paintings by the author. Seventeen plants are listed in a warning section as dangerous or poisonous (wild ginger, pokeweed, etc.). A few recipes (soup, fritter, wild edible biscuits) are attached at the end. The index sorts the edibles by type of use (pies, liquers, teas, salads, etc.)