Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #202847 in Books
• Published on: 1966-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 301 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Even those who have no intention of combing the countryside for cleavers, slippery elm or velvet dock will welcome the return to print of this 1966 classic guide to American wild herbs for its wealth of knowledge. Many since the late Gibbons ( Stalking the Wild Asparagus ) have written about the medicinal and nutritive properties of indigenous flora, and nouvelle cuisine has domesticated the notion of edible flowers, but the author's good-humored approach to preparing pine tree needles, boiled nettles and similar treats establishes his as a uniquely charming voice in the self-important world of health foods ("I would like to think that it was sheer genius that caused me to get all the proportions right in my first attempt to make this fragrant ambrosia rose petal jam, but I know it was just blind luck"). Gibbons is the quintessential American naturalist, rhapsodic about nature but eminently practical as well--and never above looking for get-rich-quick schemes, as demonstrated by his experiments to produce a chocolate substitute from basswood. Illustrated.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
""How will the librarian classify this wise and delightful book that is, of course, about herbs and plants but with such a difference that the gardener, the cook, the chemist, the botanist, and the experimental scientist will find it rewarding reading? ...Books by this 'stalker' should find a place in all general collections."
K.T.Willis, Library Journal"

Customer Reviews

Great idea but not enough information
The idea behind this book is wonderful. I live in a huge forest and I was hoping to gain the knowledge to recognize wild herbs from Stalking the Healthful Herbs. Unfortunately the pictures are lacking and in the end I found it hard to learn how to recognize the plants. Each section provides a decent description of the herb and how to find them but in the end, I would have preferred to have a colored picture rather than an artists sketch. It is unfortunate that I have not picked up this book very often after purchasing it a few years ago. I will try and try again but I'm awfully disappointed that I haven't learned a thing.