Below is a list of recommended resources to help you learn more about plant and mushroom identification, foraging, cooking with wild edibles, and herbal medicine. They are broken down into separate categories, but keep in mind that many overlap! The categories are more of a guideline to help you find what you’re looking for.

There are many worthy books and online resources out there—far more than can be covered here! But this is a list to get you started.

Books

Plant & Mushroom Identification

  • Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb

  • Sam Thayer's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants by Sam Thayer

  • Botany in a Day by Thomas Elpel

  • 100 Edible Mushrooms by Michael Kuo

Foraging

  • The Forager’s Harvest by Sam Thayer

  • Nature’s Garden by Sam Thayer

  • Incredible Wild Edibles by Sam Thayer

  • Edible Wild Plants by John Kallas

Cooking with wild edibles

  • Abundantly Wild by Theresa Marrone

  • The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Beth Dooley & Sean Sherman

  • The New Wildcrafted Cuisine by Pascal Baudar

  • The Forager Chef's Book of Flora by Alan Bergo

Herbal Medicine

  • The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook by James Green

  • Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman

  • Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs by Rosemary Gladstar

  • Wild Remedies by Rosalee de la Forêt & Emily Han