Product Description

Here Euell Gibbons shows the reader how to enjoy the culinary and medicinal virtues of herbs and wild plants. Drawn from the author’s wide knowledge of plants as well as from the lore of native Americans and early settlers, the information is supplemented by nutritionists at Pennsylvania State University who worked with Gibbons on analysis of the entries.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #349491 in Books
• Published on: 1966-01-01
• Released on: 2005-03-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 301 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Even those who have no intention of combing the countryside for cleavers, slippery elm or velvet dock will welcome the return to print of this 1966 classic guide to American wild herbs for its wealth of knowledge. Many since the late Gibbons ( Stalking the Wild Asparagus ) have written about the medicinal and nutritive properties of indigenous flora, and nouvelle cuisine has domesticated the notion of edible flowers, but the author's good-humored approach to preparing pine tree needles, boiled nettles and similar treats establishes his as a uniquely charming voice in the self-important world of health foods ("I would like to think that it was sheer genius that caused me to get all the proportions right in my first attempt to make this fragrant ambrosia rose petal jam, but I know it was just blind luck"). Gibbons is the quintessential American naturalist, rhapsodic about nature but eminently practical as well--and never above looking for get-rich-quick schemes, as demonstrated by his experiments to produce a chocolate substitute from basswood. Illustrated.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Scientific American
A handful of crushed pennyroyal rubbed on exposed skin will keep mosquitoes away. A half-cup of violet-leaf greens has as much Vitamin C as four oranges. Lemonade flavored with a jigger of borage juice is an especially cooling drink. The roots of Queen Anne's lace will do for a meal in an emergency. That insatiable stalker of the wildlings, Euell Gibbons, has been out hunting again.

Review
"“How will the librarian classify this wise and delightful book that is, of course, about herbs and plants but with such a difference that the gardener, the cook, the chemist, the botanist, and the experimental scientist will find it rewarding reading? ...Books by this ‘stalker’ should find a place in all general collections.”
K.T.Willis, Library Journal "

Customer Reviews

One of Euell Gibbons best, back in print
The original "Stalking the wild..." editions went out of print some years ago and that was a shame. Nobody but a character like Euell Gibbons could write such a downhome book that passed on folk wisdom and botany in a delightful way.

I actually prefer this book to "Asparagus" because it is a bit more useful. For example, if you live nearly anywhere in middle America, violet leaves pop up in your lawn and garden. They're readily available and easy to find. And he gives uses for cucumber-scented borage, which you can actually plant from seeds. This herb now is a top seller for its healthful oil-rich seeds that contain linoleic acid. If borage doesn't grow in your fields, you can put it in your herb garden. He gives great ideas for violets, borage, mint and other herbs either readily found or available to grow.

Careful however; some of the wild herbs look alike; most dangerously hemlock and parsley, angelica and other members of the carrot family look alike with their feathery fronds. Best to take a course in plant identification at the local community college if you are collecting these.

Disappointing
This would have been much better with more illustrations. Only about half of the plants that he reviews are illustrated, leading the novice to wonder if the 'weeds' growing in her garden are actually the marvelous chickweed, or something else.

Excellent book
If you have read Euell Gibbon's "Stalking the wild asparagus", then you'll love this book like I do. Euell was the original forager, a true expert. A must have for any foraging enthusiast.