foraging as a way of life: a year-round field guide to wild plants

Find connection with the land and feed your family locally, seasonally, and sustainably

Nourish your family from nature’s pantry. Foraging as a Way of Life documents twelve months of wildcrafting, featuring five different plants each month for a full year of abundant, local, and seasonal eating. Enhance your sense of self-sufficiency while increasing food security, protecting habitat, and connecting with the land.

Full-color and lavishly illustrated, this accessible, in-depth resource features:

• Accurate and detailed descriptions of herbs, mushrooms, berries, and other wild plants to avoid confusion and inspire confidence when determining plant identification.
• Foraging recipes for remedies, tonics, syrups, and unique handcrafted dishes incorporating wild ingredients--feast on rosehip soup with pan-fried dandelion flowers, followed by birch- bark cookies or chicory chocolate bars.
• Extensive guidance for safe processing or consumption of each species, including cautions, lookalikes, and tips for sustainable harvesting.

Drawing on the author’s field experience and her study of herbalism and ethnobotany, Foraging as a Way of Life is designed to inspire readers to share the exuberance and joy of wild foods while finding nourishment and connection in their local fields or forests. A must for every gardener who would like to gather dinner while weeding, for those wishing to learn sustainable harvesting while hiking, or for anyone who wants to create healthy, foraged meals while living lightly on the planet.

Mikaela Cannon is an author and instructor who facilitates classes and workshops focused on responsible foraging and wildcrafting. She is deeply rooted in her community and works with a multitude of local organizations towards the goals of Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation, environmental protection, and climate action. As a homeschooling parent, Mikaela is passionate about passing on to the next generation the skills and knowledge required to harvest and prepare wild foods. She has taken various courses in herbal medicine at Pacific Rim College, as well as studying Ethnobotany, Anthropology, and Biology at Okanagan College in the interior BC. She also trained as a wilderness guide in Sweden. Mikaela and her family raise chickens, sheep, and vegetables on a small farm near Armstrong, BC, Canada.