Books on shoreline foraging

[s/v Beth]

I want a new way to look at wild edible plants. Many of the sources say something like this: "Warning, may cause illness or be fatal if ingested in large quantities, not quite ripe etc..." And you are going to tell me when a berry is ripe when I have never seen it before?
I would like a study made of each plant- what toxins it contains, what nutrients, and then how to tell when it is most nutritious. And can it be prepared in a way to make it more digestible and nutritious?
Because lets face it: Native Americans 300 years ago did not have a long life span. Anthropological data show it was not just bears that did them in, it was what they ate.

[Coxswain]

Walking among the rocks with a beer in one hand, a pick or screw driver in the other... cracking oysters straight off the rocks in NW Western Australia... nothing better!!!

[Astrid]

Newt, you might try Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods by Elias and Dykeman. As for toxins, you would almost certainly have to do a plant by plant research, and I would recommend Poisonous Plants: A Handbook for Doctors, Pharmacists, Toxicologists, Biologists and Veterinarians by Dietrich Frohne

[s/v Beth]

Thanks Astrid, I already have the first one. Do you forage? What do you use as a mushroom and shellfish guides? I have been quite tempted by your northern rainforest.

[Astrid]

I don't trust my skills with mushrooms, so I avoid those; lobster and crabs I like but don't each much other forms of shell fish.

[shorebird]

Hey Astrid, I like lobster too, but if I'm foraging for them on Canada's west coast, I expect a long search.

[Astrid]

True, water is too cold for rock lobsters (which actually isn't a true lobster) much above Monterey California, although I have caught a few in Southern California. I was talking in general about my likes and dislikes. Crabs, though, as you know, we have plenty of along the north Pacific coasts.

[sparrowhawk1]

As a Kidd I used to break open a mussel and tie the meat on a piece of string and catch tons of blue crabs

[MooseMarine]

Hi Rumplestiltskin,

In the UK, the classic guide is "Food for Free" by Richard Mabey. First published in 1972 and still in print. Inspired HFW. Must dig my copy out of storage...

MooseMarine