The best
Outdoors & Nature Reference books:
Reddit reviews
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
The best of Outdoors & Nature Reference books by number of unique Reddit comments:
Top Reddit reviews mentioning Outdoors & Nature Reference books:
This will be good. If you have interest in this topic and famous Brits, you should read Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams (Author of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy).
He travels the world and experiences some of the most endangered animals and writes about them and the experience in the way that ONLY he can. (it was written in the late 80s, so some species he writes about are in fact now extinct)
This timeless, easy to read book is still one of my favorites and had wonderful reviews.
Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification https://www.amazon.com/dp/1892784351/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_apa_i_mC4LDb8VEQD66
This is a copy/paste of one of my comments...
I always recommend this; is to contact the local agriculture extension office or local community college of the area you live in. These local experts either personally know or they personally know who to contact regarding foraging info. Books by Samuel Thayer and Euell Gibbons are excellent, but they cover a very large area to be able to sell to a large audience. (Which is fine...)
But, most people spend 99% of their time in just one local area. Learn to key and classify the local plants here, and then all the sudden the other books in other areas start making more sense. https://www.amazon.com/Botany-Day-Patterns-Method-Identification/dp/1892784351 is a good book.
Also check MeetUp for any local groups in the area too.
Stay away from anything that looks remotely like that plant until you know how to identify plants. That family is not for beginners.
Holy shit this sub stresses me out sometimes. 😅
ETA: Botany in a Day is a good place to start.
This is still a somewhat helpful field guide for East Coasters, but you might also be interested in the National Audubon Society Mushroom Field Guide, which covers all of North America.
A list of pictures is not enough. You need a comprehensive resource that will also tell you which ones have no inedible lookalikes and how the inedible lookalikes differ if they do exist.
The closest thing to what you are looking for is probably this. And, even then, go out with an experienced mushroom hunter the first few hundred times.
Mushrooms of the Northeast is my go to field guide for New England. I take that little book on every hike. At home I keep the National Audubon Society Guide. The Audubon Guide is a bit more in depth and has a lot more species listed. Just be cautious because the more extensive guide is not focused on New England.
With all the recent taxonomic changes, that's fair.
For my region specifically, my recommendations are:
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
and
Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast
Amazon links for anyone interested:
https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Pacific-Northwest-Timber-Press/dp/0881929352
https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Redwood-Coast-Comprehensive-California/dp/1607748177
Check out field guides published for your local area, they sometimes contain interesting info on individual species, like where the name came from medicinal uses, etc. For a more general overview of families, I highly recommend Botany in a Day!
Sincere question…
Is the only difference between kaporos and a typical slaughter house the added spiritual purpose given to the chickens during kaporos?
Now the sarcasm… I’d assume those protesters are all vegans. Will they decide to starve to death after reading “The Secret Life of Plants” by Peter Tompkins/Christopher Bird?
Think they’d protest tyrannosaurus?
Get Botany In A Day and learn to properly key and classify a plant first. Then all the sudden all the other books will make more sense.
The problem is, new foragers want a picture book to match a picture to a plant.
Then reach out to your local agriculture extension office since they are experts in your local area. They will have literature or know someone in the local area. Also seek out your local colleges to see if they have an ethnobotany department.
There are a lot of great books, but they cast a large net to a large audience to sell the most books. Start locally since you will be foraging locally 99% of the time.
r/shroomid
Edit: I also have the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms which has almost 1000 pages of how to ID specific mushrooms with pictures. I think it’s on Amazon :) happy hunting!
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National Audubon Society Field Guides) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394519922/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8xXOFb7VDBG94?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
This is the one I use. It’s pretty complete and not too expensive.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National Audubon Society Field Guides) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394519922/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_kWQQBbB92MYGP
There is a series of books you can buy as a set from David Canterbury, starts with a broad and basic book called "bushcraft 101," and has specialized books for more advanced topics like medicine, food gathering, etc.
That, and a localized Peterson's guide to edible plants.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/CFBF422A-0B2C-46CB-A272-7AED8BC49A42
Field guide for your area (https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922)
Merlin Sheldrake’s recent book is also fantastic (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566795/entangled-life-by-merlin-sheldrake/)
"The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications: Rätsch, Christian, Hofmann, Albert: 9780892819782: Books - Amazon.ca" https://www.amazon.ca/Encyclopedia-Psychoactive-Plants-Ethnopharmacology-Applications/dp/0892819782
It's worth every penny absolutely love this book
I LOVE Douglas Adam's take on this bird, in the wonderful book Last Chance to See.
The Secret Life of Plants, worth a read to all...Secret Life of Plants
Two books i regularly bring with me are this for edible plants and this one for medicinal plants, between the two i haven't come across a plant i couldn't identify. IIRC Peterson makes a mushrooms guide too. I'm unsure how good it is because honestly getting a mushroom ID wrong scares the crap outta me to the point id rather just steer clear.
One tip- plants are easy to spot when they are flowering, but you may not always be foraging when they are in bloom. What i do every spring (and thru the fall) is go out with a notebook and the aforementioned books, and just search for stuff in bloom, and jot down when it blooms, where i've come across it (environment they like), and what the plant looks like besides the flower. Then ill keep an eye out and try and ID the plants when they are no longer in bloom. After a few seasons of doing that it started becoming second nature.
This is a fun deep dive into quite the rabbit-hole of speculation and intrigue.
The Secret Life of Plants https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060915870/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_MA9ZJA4V9N7CGH578GC6
I’m not sure I’d use the phrase “good read”, but this one is special.
Welcome! I'm assuming you paid for them. These are not crystals but "massive" forms of the minerals that have been tumbled to polish them. What is important though is that they bring you joy.
Here are some additional resources:
Educational:
Worlds biggest mineral specimen database with a big message board.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals: North America (National Audubon Society Field Guides) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394502698/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apan_i_4N64V1G5AEX6B3GPSJ43
r/rockhounds
Places to buy mineral specimens
eBay: Look under collectibles. There is a rocks and minerals category.
Etsy
Various dealer websites.
Rock shops and metaphysical shops.
Gem and mineral shows.
Rockhounding.
my favorite: National Audubon Society Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals: North America (National Audubon Society Field Guides) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394502698/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_YMJ54BXJMH8Y5KR8QEA9
I read it in a book called The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants.
Botany in a day! It's an incredible book that breaks down plant families. The focus is on the plants of North America but you should be able to ID a plant /category from anywhere in the world. https://www.amazon.com/Botany-Day-Patterns-Method-Identification/dp/1892784351
Exactly! Thank you.
Thanks for the recommendation. Here's a really useful, academic level one: The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0892819782
And if you look up the paper "Getting High witch the Most High" online, you will find a really good study on where they appear in the Bible.
If you’re interested in shamanic plants there’s a brilliant book that you can use as a leap board to gain quite advanced knowledge pretty quick
The PDF is 2 minutes away on google, I had the PDF and just had to buy the book. It’s an 11 out of 10 for me
Most of the plants I wouldn’t touch, like datura. You don’t do datura datura does you. It’s for the most advanced shamans like many. Some of the plants are dangerous like transdermal absorption dangerous, just handling them can fuck you up. I have the utmost respect for plants, the true overlords IMo