We love plants, but we also love books that help us learn about plants. If you’re new to foraging or want to learn how to use some of the amazing things that are growing around you, here is a list of our favourite books about foraging in New Zealand.
As well as supporting local authors (and growers and farmers), we also love supporting local bookstores. When purchasing a book, think about buying it from one of Aotearoa’s many wonderful independent bookshops. You can search for books from independently owned bookstores on this directory here. Or get them free from your library!
1. Foraging New Zealand - Peter Langlands
I first encountered Peter Langlands on a foraging tour in Dunedin, and spent the hour furiously noting his inventive ideas for using the plants he showed us. As well as running foraging workshops, webinars, and professionally foraging wild food for top restaurants, he’s also written a wonderful book called Foraging New Zealand.
This book includes over 250 plants and fungi you can forage in Aotearoa, which is the perfect starting point for anyone getting into foraging and needing a launch pad to develop their knowledge. It includes big photos to help with identification and “key edible uses” for every plant described. If you get the chance to join one of his foraging tours, I highly recommend you do because his knowledge goes far beyond what even this comprehensive guide can offer.
2. The Forager's Treasury - Johanna Knox
The Forager's Treasury is a great practical guide for those who want to start making things. Johanna offers a multitude of creative ways to use the plants in her book, like how to make your own kawakawa peppercorns, or dandelion three ways (salad, fritters and coffee). She also covers how to make perfumes, tisanes (herbal teas), the art of pickling, infusions, wild medicine and dyeing. So, this is the perfect book for people who want to dive a bit deeper and make something interesting with their foraged finds.
At its heart, however, this foraging book is an ode to her reconnection with nature. She says we are all gatherers at heart, but some of us choose to ‘leave behind the shiny fluro-lit smorgasbord of supermarket food’ and head to ‘where we and the food are free’.
3. Fungi of Aotearoa - Liv Sisson
Mushrooms can be daunting, especially when you’re new to foraging (this caution is warranted when one incorrect identification could be your last). But Liv Sisson’s Fungi of Aotearoa is a beautiful, informative introduction. Accompanied by Paula Vigus’s stunning photography, this book is a visual masterpiece. It’s funky and colourful, just like the fungi it details within its pages, and Liv’s delightful, humorous energy shines through. While the book includes a large number of inedible fungi, it also has a helpful section on the edible ones, including how to find and identify them. So you’ll be able to build on your repertoire, from porcini to puffballs.
4. Edible Weeds Handbook - Andrew Crowe
One thing we love about foraging is that you’re never far away from an edible plant, and if you’re in an urban environment, that plant is more than likely what you might deem a weed. Often despised for the pesky way they overrun our gardens, or overlooked for their unattractive nature, weeds are often a free, readily available food source, many of which have potent medicinal properties.
Andrew Crowe’s Edible Weeds Handbook is the perfect introduction to those plants. This is a small, compact guide (perfect for accompanying you on your foraging expeditions) that includes common weeds you’ll find when foraging in New Zealand and some of their uses. It also has a section on poisonous plants to look out for, which is very important when foraging. This foraging book is a wonderful way to help you see the plants growing around you in a new light.
🌿Related: 10 Edible Weeds You Can Forage In New Zealand
5. Native Edible Plants of New Zealand - Andrew Crowe
Andrew Crowe again, but this time it’s a foraging guide to New Zealand’s edible native plants: A Field Guide to Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Inspired to learn more about Aotearoa’s native flora after getting lost in the bush, he set out again (this time deliberately and equipped with more knowledge) to test his survival skills. The result is a practical guide to native edible plants, combining identification tips with insights into how they can be used. Importantly, it also acknowledges the deep knowledge held by Māori, whose traditional use of native plants underpins much of what we understand about their value today.
6. Eat Wild - Sophie Merkens
While the books above are more plant-focused, Sophie’s Eat Wild delves deeper into the people. This book details Sophie's journey as she jumps in her van, Zephyr, and takes a wild-food road trip across Aotearoa, following the seasons south. Along the way, she meets professional foragers, hunters, and chefs who all have a deep connection with the land and their own unique ways of using what it provides. She shares some of her own recipes, as well as those gathered from the people she meets. From slow-cooked rabbit to creamy pāua, this book captures what it’s really like to eat wild. It’s also a lovely introduction to your fellow foragers and wild food enthusiasts.
