This book has exceeded my expectations, but you can’t expect any less than a 4 star content from National Trust. And I trust their contributors and experts.
I have minimal experience with and interest in foraging in my day-to-day life. As a child, my father taught me a fee foraging tips. A few safe bets. I personally see it as a survival skill that I shall pick up, and expected only useful foraging tips and information yet I was met with bouquets of amazing and engaging information, pictures (especially the classic styled drawings are awesome). the law, lessons, fun facts, recipes, and what not to do, what is poisonous.
All in all, a rich book and well-presented, accessible (as suiting for foraging) information.

My first thought after reading this book was that it would make a lovely gift for nature lovers and people interested in foraging. It's well written, packed with interesting facts, and has a beautiful design with both botanical illustrations and photographs to help identify plants.

The book emphasises that foraging isn't just for woodlands and countryside - the author lives in a city and says that he finds plenty of variety of plants to forage.

There's a handy guide to identifying good specimens, and to good practice whilst foraging (for example, not taking too much, and identifying protected plants that shouldn't be foraged).

The author talks in depth about the potential dangers and emphasises that if you're unsure of a plant, you should never eat it.

The section on edible plants is well laid out, with information on where to find the plants, the dangers you may encounter (such as poisonous lookalikes), uses, and when to harvest. There are also a lovely selection of recipes using these plants, including some tasty cocktails.

You'll only find one mushroom in this book, something to be aware of if mushrooms are what you're particularly interested in foraging.

The final section focuses on common poisonous plants, and those that could be confused with the edible plants in this book.

Overall, this is a fabulous guide for those new to foraging.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the allowing me to read and review this book in order to provide an honest review.

I love this book and will certainly look out for some things to forage on my next walk.
I’m a member of the National Trust and was thinking to look whilst visiting one of their places. I was then pleased to see this book is a National Trust book.

I’m really nervous about picking the wrong things.
I will look at the fabulous pictures this book provides to double check like it reminds you to do.

The book also provides recipes. Which I think is amazing.

I’ve always liked the idea of foraging and this book is very informative and interesting.

I have done a bit of foraging and love what nature provides, this book provides that little bit of extra knowledge and know how, well actually it’s quite a bit of extra knowledge of a small selection of plants so I hope there’s a possibility of a follow up book. Who knew that magnolia tastes like ginger, I didn’t and I’m now wondering if my friend will allow me to raid her prized magnolia tree next spring? This book would make a great gift for anyone, a very interesting read and one that could be popped into a pocket or bag on walks so that you have the wonderful pictures with you, for identifying the plants, especially the poisonous ones
I know I will return to this book for information time and again, if not for plant information but for the recipes provided in the book and to add a bit of extra spice and nutrition to my own recipes too.

A very interesting book for a person like me who gardens but would like to take mini steps into seeing what else nature can give us. However it did not make me feel any more confidant in eating plants I do not know. beautiful images and photos. Apt descriptions.

A very valuable book if you want to forage. Very informative with pictures to recognise what you are picking. I didn't know how much you can eat, with plenty of recipes to help you along the way. Thanks to Collins reference and Netgalley for this review copy.

When I was offered an ARC for this book, I had never come across the topic of foraging. It was a new and intriguing topic for me. So, I read the book with interest.
I enjoyed the discovery of just how many plants around us we can pick and enjoy. The book offers descriptions, drawings, photos of many plants that can be found in reasonably locally in the UK and Europe. For inspiration about how to enjoy these plants, the author gives us many recipes to try out.
And, very importantly, there is a chapter at the end about poisonous plants you should stay away from.
I would personally not feel totally confident to put on my plate everything I picked, but I think this book is a very nice introduction to foraging and an invitation to explore further, maybe with the help of more experienced people.

I would like to thank netgalley for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book to start looking at foraging and what could be around you. I found it great as it helped me name the types of mint I have growing in my garden. At the end of the book it also shows some poisonous plants or what not to look for.

Thanks to Netgalley & Collins Reference/National Trust for the e-ARC.

The First-Time Forager is a beautifully illustrated and well written guide to foraging in a compact 176 page book, with the guide being divided into two sections, an A-Z herbal, a guide to avoiding poisonous plants and what aren't yet look very alike (aka if you are not sure avoid). The first part was certainly of interest to me, in part because I've learnt that some of the plants my mum inherited from my nan who was very into herbal remedies weren't just pretty specimens but functional as a lot within the A-Z includes recipes that include such plants. I'm hoping to test a few of the recipes out over the Summer and hopefully they bode well.

Would recommend to anyone wanting to learn about foraging or simply more about herbal plants.

The First-Time Forager is a very well written, precise, illustrated guide to foraging by Andy Hamilton. Released 11th April 2024 by the National Trust, it's 176 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

This guide is divided into sections. First, an A-Z herbal with illustrated entries for plants from Apple to Wood avens (Geum urbanum). Note that this guide is aimed at common plants in Britain, but many of them are ubiquitous to temperate regions the world over because of human introduction and natural occurrence. Each of the entries contains a common and botanical binomial (Latin name) followed by a description. The entries are accompanied by multiple photos of the various component plant parts. Pictures are clear and in color. The herbal also includes one or more recipe featuring the plants in question.

The second section of the book is a useful field guide to poisonous plants and lookalikes, with good advice on proper identification and safety. The author has included clear photos as well as what plants each of the dangerous plants looks like and with which they can potentially be confused. These poisonous plants are important in their habitats, often as host plants for species of insect and as food sources for wildlife. The author takes pains to show them for the important, useful plants they are whilst stressing that foragers should generally leave them well alone.

Although it's aimed mostly at readers in the British Isles, it's a useful resource for North America and Europe as well. The author/publisher have also included an abbreviate links list for further reading.

Four and a half stars. This would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, home use, for smallholders and self sufficiency folks, and for gift giving. It's lovely to see a burgeoning appreciation for foraging and using local fresh ingredients (safely).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A few years ago I went on a foraging course and thoroughly enjoyed it. As a result I have been on the lookout for good guides to help me when I am out walking either locally or when I am on holiday in Britain.
The author starts with guidelines on responsible collection of the plants you find, the law and promoting respect of our natural landscapes. The book then looks at 40 of the most common and easy to identify plants you can find in the British countryside. The plants are considered in A - Z order, with common and Latin name provided. The first page for each plant has a handy at a glance guide on the right hand side of the page, and we start with some background , how to identify the plant and where it can be found. The next page then has clear photographs of the main parts of the plant to enable identification and highlighting the edible parts. This is then followed by suggestions of how the author likes to use the plant and where appropriate recipes, I have used the one to make vegan honey using Dandelion heads and it really is fantastic.
After the edibles there is a short section on the common poisonous British plants, followed by an excellent list of resources and key books for further reading..
Excellent guide for starters and more experienced foragers.

The women in my family taught me how to tell an edible mushroom from a poisonous one, edible plants and what was foraging without risking.
I was lucky as I spent a lot of time in the country but if you always lived in the city this is the right book that could help you to start without risking you life (some plants are very dangerous)
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The First Time Forager by Andy Hamilton. I was interested to see what this book had in store as Ive always been interested in foraging but didn't know where to start. It was a very interesting book. One that would be great in paper format rather than digital so you could take it out with you. I was surprised at how many things in my parents garden I would be able to forage as well!!!

An excellent book for first time foragers but also for folk who already know what they are doing as it has some lovely recipes in it as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and Collins Reference for the ARC Copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.

This is an excellent guide to foraging, explaining that many plants we see in the countryside are in fact edible. It emphasises the need to be cautious and 100 per cent certain they are safe to eat. Whilst many of the plants, flowers and fruits are well known e.g. cherry and blackberry, others are less obvious like gorse and Japanese knotweed. The plants are listed alphabetically and tell you where they grow, dangers, when to harvest and how to use. There are clear pictures of each plant and a fun fact which was a nice addition. An excellent section at the end highlights many common poisonous plants. There are food and drink recipes for many of these plants including Blackberry Sidecar and Wild Garlic Pesto. A great place to start if you are keen to have a go at foraging. Thank you to Net Galley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book has given me the confidence to forage for the first time . Although the family always insist that I try it first, they still think that I am going to kill them by accident. The book provides that you do not do that !

What a great idea for a book! Never even thought about us needing this book, and now that I have read it I am thinking "why didn't we have this book ages ago?". There are so many things for a forager out there, and this book gives the reader plenty of ideas where to look for food, what to look for, and what to do with the products. I got lots of nice ideas from this compact book!

This book is a comprehensive guide to starting out with foraging. What I loved the most was the focus on cities / towns which is encouraging as you generally think that foraging can only be done in the countryside. I loved that there were pictures and the details for each plant were comprehensive. Everything you need and well put together.

Beautifully set out, this is a really handy book for those of us who like the great outdoors but would also like to get more out of what we find on our travels.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Was really pleased by the National Trust who asked me to review this really interesting book. Since watching River Cottage and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall I have been really interested in foraging, yes we all pick blackberries late August but there is so much more to this as the book sets out.
What I love as well is the recipes you can do with foraged goods.
The book and author does show caution and there are dos and donts with foraging.
I love this book and will be using more than just blackberries and rose hips

Thank you Netgalley, National Trust and Andy Hamilton

I found this to be a really informative, and fun, guide to the edible plants that can be found around Britain! When I'm out for a wander locally I also wonder what I can and can't forage, and now I've got a better idea so I can be more adventurous than just sticking to the blackberries!!

The guide is presented in an A-Z format and shines a light on the wild food, fruits and flowers that can be good to eat - and those that you should avoid and be wary of!! There's also a helpful list of do's and don'ts so you can keep on the right side of the law, and also plenty of ideas of how to use the produce you find - making teas, using in salads etc.

As well as listing the fruits it also give some helpful recipes and there were a few surprises on the list to me especially magnolia flowers! The illustrations are in colour so it makes it easier to identify and I can't wait to get out wandering again in better weather to see what goodies nature has to share with me!