Foraging Southern California
118 Nutritious, Tasty, and Abundant Foods
Your Field Guide to Foraging for Wild Edibles: What, Where, and When to Look
Foraging for food is an engaging and beneficial pastime that anyone can enjoy. It inspires connections to the land and can help to improve your health. Plus, many target plants for foragers are non-native, so the activity can support—if not improve—biological diversity and ecological well-being. Foraging Southern California introduces you to plentiful and delicious foods, from berries and fruits to roots, seeds, and even tasty aquatic options, like kelp and crayfish.
Expert forager Douglas Kent shares his decades of experience in this handy guide that’s perfect for beginners and intermediates. Learn what to look for, as well as when and where to look. Key identification features, written instructions, and full-color photographs help you to comfortably and confidently know that you’re harvesting the right species. A compare section provides information on dangerous look-alikes, helping to ensure your foraging success and personal health. The “Top 10 Edibles” section provides a starting point for beginners, and species throughout the book are organized by harvestable quality, which quickly leads to the relevant information for your own foraging needs.
Foraging must be done with knowledge and consideration. Foraging Southern California provides information that can benefit you and the environment. Grab the book, get outside, and enjoy nature’s bounty.
Douglas Kent, MS, MLA, began eating weeds in 1979. His mentor and great aunt, Catherine Peck, was well versed in Depression-Era foods. As a naturalist for the Environmental Nature Center (Newport Beach, CA) in the late 1980s he developed a deep respect for native crafting, eating and living. Since then his love of foraging, gardening and California’s landscapes have wildly grown. Doug has been working in and grazing California’s gardens for over 40 years. He has worked on hundreds of landscapes projects throughout the state. He has two advanced degrees in ecological land management. He has volunteered to restoration and urban food efforts in numerous communities. He has taught some aspect of foraging and/or wildcrafting at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, since 2008. And Doug has written 6 other books on environmental horticulture. For some people foraging is about survival, to others it is about a spiritual connection with the land. To Doug, foraging is about everyday wellbeing and delight. He believes that California would be far healthier and resilient if we would embrace our nature and graze our impact and weeds.
