The Forager's Garden - by Vickie Shufer (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Grow an Abundance of Food and Medicine--Naturally and Sustainably

The Forager's Garden is your guide to transforming ordinary lawns and meadows into thriving ecosystems that nourish both body and soul. With minimal maintenance, you'll learn to cultivate a landscape rich in edible and medicinal plants--designed to work in harmony with nature.

This book goes beyond traditional foraging. It's about creating a living, breathing garden where wild and cultivated plants coexist, supporting a community of humans, animals, and beneficial insects. As food prices rise and conventional gardening becomes more labor-intensive, The Forager's Garden offers a refreshing alternative. Instead of battling weeds and pests, you'll embrace nature's rhythms. Where traditional gardens struggle by midsummer, the wild garden flourishes--requiring little upkeep and offering increasing yields year after year.

Inside you'll find chapters on:

• Planning
• Earth Time
• Creating Habitat
• Natives in the Landscape
• The Forest Landscape
• Naturalized Aliens
• The Harvest
• The Wild Apothecary

The Forager's Garden teaches you to mimic nature's design--growing in patches, not rows. This polyculture approach fosters resilience, biodiversity, and abundance. Over time, your garden becomes a self-sustaining ecosystem, providing food, medicine, and habitat for all.

Review Quotes

Praise for Forager's Handbook

"An excellent book on food foraging and herbal medicine for all levels of plant enthusiasts. The author generously and abundantly shares her knowledge of herbalism and wild food foraging. Filled with great recipes, beautiful photos, and a wealth of information, The Forager's Handbook guides us through the seasons, introducing us to local plants for health and healing. The recipes alone make this book worth having--they are many and fabulous!" --Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and author

"There is something so special about gathering wild foods and herbs and making delicious recipes and tasty teas. For many people, getting started is rather daunting or scary. This detailed book will give you the confidence, knowledge, and recipes needed to become a skilled forager and wild foods aficionado." --David Winston, RH, clinical herbalist and ethnobotanist

"When it comes to wild foods and medicines, Vicki has always been a teacher's teacher. The Forager's Handbook now brings her years of experience into a beautifully illustrated and well-crafted book that is accessible to all levels of plant lovers. The seasonal journey through the year is extremely helpful and the recipes are inviting. With each herb that she discusses, Vickie allows the reader to know this is written by someone who has known the plants for years and therefore is a trustworthy guide to the wonderful world of wild foods." --Kat Maier, author of Energetic Herbalism

"Vickie Shufer is the ultimate forager: knowledgeable, brave, and adventurous. She makes learning fun and accessible no matter your background or age. You will want this book in your backpack!" --Teresa Boardwine, RH (AHG)

"When I first met Vickie Shufer she was knee-deep in a marsh on the North Carolina Outer Banks showing folks how to dig cattail roots and gather wild cranberries. Since that time she has been more than knee-deep in her research and experimentation with edible and medicinal wild plants. Now she shares her expertise in this marvelously comprehensive volume packed full of recipes, foraging advice, botany lessons, as well as descriptions, natural history, and nitty-gritty details of how to use a great variety of our common wild plants." --Doug Elliot, author of Wildwoods Wisdom, Wild Roots, and Swarm Tree

"After spending time with Vicki identifying medicinal plants and foraging in a number of different ecosystems, I know her to be well-seasoned in the subject. The Forager's Handbook certainly shows her expertise in an engaging and informative way. The book elegantly weaves a story about the joys of spending time in nature with down-to-earth information, beautiful illustrations, and delicious 'wild' recipes. I'll be recommending it, not only to all my herbal students far and wide, but everyone with an interest in our green world. Thank you, Vicki, for putting your deep knowledge together in such a digestible format!" --Claudia Joy Wingo, MPH, RN, FNHAA, clinical herbalist

About the Author

Vickie Shufer is a forager and herbalist and author of The Forager's Handbook and The Everything Guide to Foraging. Vickie is the owner of Wild Woods Farm, an 11-acre certified native nursery where she grows and sells native and medicinal plants. She also teaches classes on identifying, harvesting, and preparing wild plants for food and medicine.