Foraging Arizona

Arizona is a diverse area from the Colorado Plateau to the lowland basin and range areas of the Sonoran desert. Foraging Arizona addresses all the traditional plants from mesquite, amaranth, and cactus fruits, to the common urban weeds such as purslane, mallow, and lambs quarter. You'll learn about the edible wild foods and healthful herbs of Arizona. Organized by botanical families with a helpful guide to the environmental zone, this is an authoritative guide for nature lovers and gastronomes. Use Foraging Arizona as a field guide or as a delightful armchair read. No matter what you're looking for, whether it’s history of how native plants were used or how you can forage some of your meals at home or on hiking trips, this guide will enhance your next backpacking trip or easy stroll around the garden. Inside you'll find: Detailed descriptions of edible plants Tips on finding, preparing, and using foraged foods A glossary of botanical terms Full-color photos

Are you ready to embark on a culinary adventure like no other? Discover the untamed flavors of the Wild South. This captivating book is your ticket to a world of mouthwatering, wild-grown treasures hidden right in your backyard. Key Benefits of This Book: Unlock Nature's Bounty: Learn to identify, harvest, and enjoy over 140 delicious and nutritious wild plants that thrive in the Texas and Southwest region. From succulent cacti to flavorful berries, expand your palate with the unique tastes of the wilderness. Foraging Safely: Safeguard your foraging journey with expert guidance on plant identification, safety tips, and ethical foraging practices. This book is your trusted companion, ensuring you feast on nature's bounty without risk. Culinary Creativity: Elevate your cooking to new heights with 40+ inventive recipes that incorporate wild ingredients. Explore the limitless possibilities of wild edible plants, from savory dishes to sweet treats. Seasonal Foraging: Navigate the seasons easily, as this book provides insights into when and where to find each plant, ensuring you make the most of nature's offerings year-round. Beautifully Illustrated: Immerse yourself in the vibrant, detailed photos accompanying each plant description. These visuals make plant identification a breeze and enhance your foraging experience. Expert Guidance: Written by experienced foragers, this book combines scientific knowledge with practical know-how. You'll gain insights into the cultural and historical significance of these plants, connecting with the region's rich heritage. Family-Friendly: Engage the whole family in this exciting adventure. Teach your children about the wonders of nature while bonding over foraging and cooking delicious meals together. Preserve Tradition: Rediscover the age-old tradition of foraging passed down through generations. Become a steward of the land by understanding and respecting the natural world around you. Dive into the flavors of the Wild South, enrich your culinary repertoire, and reconnect with nature's abundance. "Foraging the Wild South" is your passport to a world of adventure, flavor, and ecological awareness. Join the foraging community today!

Serving up 58 calorically/nutritionally important wild edibles for the prepper, plant utilitarian, or curious hiker/camper, Wild Edible Plants of Arizona has the distinction of being the only state-specific guide of its kind in print. Field-portable and information-salient, readers will find the material's utility on-point and handy. A discussion of each plant's edible use and preparation is the booklet's primary aim, though space is also given to range and habitat, medicinal uses, cautions, and noteworthy special considerations. Helpful additions include sustenance ratings (low, medium, or high), collection timing and desired plant-part indicators, 58 Arizona-only county-location maps, over 160 color photos, and a 450-listing general index.

Arizona is a diverse area from the Colorado Plateau to the lowland basin and range areas of the Sonoran desert. Foraging Arizona addresses all the traditional plants from mesquite, amaranth, and cactus fruits, to the common urban weeds such as purslane, mallow, and lambs quarter. You'll learn about the edible wild foods and healthful herbs of Arizona. Organized by botanical families with a helpful guide to the environmental zone, this is an authoritative guide for nature lovers and gastronomes. Use Foraging Arizona as a field guide or as a delightful armchair read. No matter what you're looking for, whether it's history of how native plants were used or how you can forage some of your meals at home or on hiking trips, this guide will enhance your next backpacking trip or easy stroll around the garden. Inside you'll find: Detailed descriptions of edible plants Tips on finding, preparing, and using foraged foods A glossary of botanical terms Full-color photos

People have long used wild plants as food and medicine, and for a myriad of other important cultural applications. While these plants and the foraging activities associated with them have been dismissed by some observers as secondary or supplementaryÑor even backwardÑtheir contributions to human survival and well-being are more significant than is often realized. Eating on the Wild Side spans the history of human-plant interactions to examine how wild plants are used to meet medicinal, nutritional, and other human needs. Drawing on nonhuman primate studies, evidence from prehistoric human populations, and field research among contemporary peoples practicing a range of subsistence strategies, the book focuses on the processes and human ecological implications of gathering, semidomestication, and cultivation of plants that are unfamiliar to most of us. Contributions by distinguished cultural and biological anthropologists, paleobotanists, primatologists, and ethnobiologists explore a number of issues such as the consumption of unpalatable and famine foods, the comparative assessment of aboriginal diets with those of colonists and later arrivals, and the apparent self-treatment by sick chimpanzees with leaves shown to be pharmacologically active. Collectively, these articles offer a theoretical framework emphasizing the cultural evolutionary processes that transform plants from wild to domesticatedÑwith many steps in betweenÑwhile placing wild plant use within current discussions surrounding biodiversity and its conservation. Eating on the Wild Side makes an important contribution to our understanding of the links between biology and culture, describing the interface between diet, medicine, and natural products. By showing how various societies have successfully utilized wild plants, it underscores the growing concern for preserving genetic diversity as it reveals a fascinating chapter in the human ecology. CONTENTS 1. The Cull of the Wild, Nina L. Etkin Selection 2. Agriculture and the Acquisition of Medicinal Plant Knowledge, Michael H. Logan & Anna R. Dixon 3. Ambivalence to the Palatability Factors in Wild Food Plants, Timothy Johns 4. Wild Plants as Cultural Adaptations to Food Stress, Rebecca Huss-Ashmore & Susan L. Johnston Physiologic Implications of Wild Plant Consumption 5. Pharmacologic Implications of "Wild" Plants in Hausa Diet, Nina L. Etkin & Paul J. Ross 6. Wild Plants as Food and Medicine in Polynesia, Paul Alan Cox 7. Characteristics of "Wild" Plant Foods Used by Indigenous Populations in Amazonia, Darna L. Dufour & Warren M. Wilson 8. The Health Significance of Wild Plants for the Siona and Secoya, William T. Vickers 9. North American Food and Drug Plants, Daniel M. Moerman Wild Plants in Prehistory 10. Interpreting Wild Plant Foods in the Archaeological Record, Frances B. King 11. Coprolite Evidence for Prehistoric Foodstuffs, Condiments, and Medicines, Heather B. Trigg, Richard I. Ford, John G. Moore & Louise D. Jessop Plants and Nonhuman Primates 12. Nonhuman Primate Self-Medication with Wild Plant Foods, Kenneth E. Glander 13. Wild Plant Use by Pregnant and Lactating Ringtail Lemurs, with Implications for Early Hominid Foraging, Michelle L. Sauther Epilogue 14. In Search of Keystone Societies, Brien A. Meilleur

"Written to be easily accessible to general readers, the book is a valuable compendium for anyone interested in the desert's hidden bounty."--Jacket.