Browsing nature's aisles: a year of foraging for wild food in the suburbs

226 Pages·2013·5.525 MB·English

by  Brown, Eric;Brown, Wendy

US/Can $17.95 FOOD/NATURE
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Wendy & Eric Brown
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Mud clams, knotweed, and O
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plants that bite back – one family’s
S B R O W S I N G
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adventures in suburban foraging N
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… an inspiring journal of one family’s effort to break free from manufactured
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foods and transition to home-grown and locally sourced cuisine,
supplemented by a steady diet of wild fare. A N AT U R E ’ S
Thomas J. ElpEl, author, Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification T
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The Browns are the inspiring Pied Pipers of suburban homesteaders. Through R
their finely tuned, personal account of the untapped and tasty world of wild E
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foraging, you’ll be craving those dandelion greens right on your doorstep. S
lisa KivirisT & John ivanKo, co-authors, Farmstead Chef and Rural Renaissance A I S L E S
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As pArt of their commitment to increasing self-reliance and resiliency, S
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Wendy and Eric Brown decided to spend a year incorporating wild edibles into
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their regular diet. Their goal was to use native flora and fauna to help bridge the S

gap between what their family could produce and what they needed to survive.
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The experience fundamentally changed their definition of food. ild Ye A YEAR of
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Nature’s Aisles is the story of one suburban family’s adventures in wild foraging. hg
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This unique and inspiring guide is a must-read for those who wish to enhance Sug f
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their food security by availing themselves of the cornucopia on their doorstep. ur r the SUBURBS
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As engrossing as a seed catalog and much more truthful…
A new generation of homesteaders, nature enthusiasts, hikers,

campers and would-be foragers have long awaited these

passionate, compelling and hard-earned words of wisdom.

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ConniE KroChmal, garden writer and columnist, Bee Culture magazine e
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Wendy and eric Brown are suburban homesteaders growing roots (both literally and ri
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figuratively) in Southern Maine. They have been studying wild edibles for many years. B
Wendy is also the author of Surviving the Apocalypse in the Suburbs. ro
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www.newsociety.com
Praise for
Browsing Nature’s Aisles
Browsing Nature’s Aisles is an inspiring journal of
one family’s effort to break free from manufactured foods,
and transition to home-grown and locally-sourced cuisine,
supplemented by a steady diet of wild fare. It is a great read
for those who dream of getting back to the land and
becoming more self-sufficient, yet don’t know where to start.
Come along for the journey as authors Wendy and Eric
Brown overcome the learning curve to successfully blend
wild plants, fungi, and game into their regular diet.
—Thomas J. Elpel, author, Botany in a Day:
The Patterns Method of Plant Identification
The Browns are the inspiring Pied Pipers of
suburban homesteaders. Through their finely tuned,
personal account of the untapped and tasty world of wild
foraging, you’ll be craving those dandelion greens
right out your doorstep.
—Lisa Kivirist & John Ivanko, coauthors,
Farmstead Chef & Rural Renaissance
As a species we have developed over millions of years
an acute ability to forage for our foods in nature. Browsing
Natures Aisles is a shining example of reestablishing that
connection between nature and our foods. For anyone with
an interest in food security, foraging or shifting the way
they think about food, this is a must read.
—Dan Agro, owner, AgroMyco
As engrossing as a seed catalog and much more
truthful, this tells a great story about the adventures, delights
and disappointments of foraging for all manners of wild foods.
A new generation of homesteaders, nature enthusiasts, hikers,
campers and would-be foragers have long awaited these
passionate, compelling and hard-earned words of wisdom.
This enormously useful, inspirational volume is a
significant and original contribution.
—Connie Krochmal, garden writer and columnist,
Bee Culture magazine

Copyright © 2013 by Wendy Brown and Eric Brown. All rights reserved.
Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
© iStock: Forest image – Laitho; Suburban houses – Lawrence Sawyer
Printed in Canada. First printing September 2013
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86571-750-3 eISBN: 978-1-55092-540-1
Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Browsing Nature’s Aisles
should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.
To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free
(North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com
Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:
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P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
[phone]
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Brown, Wendy, 1967-, author
Browsing nature’s aisles : a year of foraging for wild food in the suburbs / Wendy &
Eric Brown.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-86571-750-3 (pbk.)
1. Wild plants, Edible--Identification. 2. Cooking (Wild foods).
3. Food--Preservation. 4. Food--Safety measures. 5. Sustainable living.
I. Brown, Eric, 1969-, author II. Title.
TX823.B76 2013 641.6 C2013-904396-9
To Kaya, Etain and Tehya
who are always great sports and
amazing young women

Contents
Acknowledgments .......................................................................xi
Preface ......................................................................................xv
Part I: What We Did ....................................................................1
Chapter 1: Goals ......................................................................3
Chapter 2: Greens ..................................................................13
Chapter 3: Roots and Shoots .................................................25
Chapter 4: Berries .................................................................43
Chapter 5: Gifts from the Trees ..............................................61
Chapter 6: Fauna ...................................................................83
Chapter 7: Fungi ..................................................................95
Part II: Why We Decided to Start Foraging .............................105
Chapter 8: Food Safety and Security ....................................107
Chapter 9: Food Scarcity and
the Increasing Costs of Food ...........................................125
ix