Top Ten Books for Coastal Foraging
For the last few years we have made a name for ourselves with Foraging and Wild Foods courses, and we have led hundreds of clients through woods, fields and along beaches looking for food for free.
Each year we lead hundreds of clients through woods, fields and along beaches looking for food for free; on the coast we go in search of the edible species which live on the rocks, amongst the seaweed and in the sand and talk about tides, ethical foraging and how to eat these seaweeds and molluscs. Something that we think is vital to any kind of outdoor skill education is sending people away afterwards with the skills and knowledge to continue their learning in the days, weeks and years to come. A big part of this is recommending some excellent foraging guidebooks that will not only help folk identify the edible (and poisonous!) species, but will also show the wild food hunter the best places to find them and how to stay on the right side of the law. At some point during each course we produce from a rucksack a selection of slightly beaten up books which have been exposed to the sea spray countless times by now, these books are the ones which we most highly recommend and I have distilled them into the list below. If you are more into mushrooms and plants then we also have inland foraging book recommendations.
The books found below are only intended as a guide to help you further your coastal foraging – we would of course recommend that the best way to learn is to come along on a day with an experienced foraging guide.
Books for identification
Foraging requires you to recognise the specimen which you are looking at and confidently identify it as being a particular species, at the most basic level if you cannot identify what you are looking at then you shouldn’t be putting it in your mouth. The books listed below are very good for identifying the huge number of seaweeds, fish, crustaceans and molluscs which you may find on the coast, but they contain very limited (if any) information about edibility; some may denote toxic species with a symbol, but they err on the side of caution. After all, they exist so that people can identify the species, not so that they can learn the best sauce to accompany said species.
The Wildflower Key - Francis Rose
The first step with any kind of plant identification is knowing how to identify it by the visual cues – the shape, colour, size and so on. This comprehensive guide (relevant particularly to Britain and Ireland, but of some relevance in Northern Europe too) is considered to be the ideal bridge between a technical guide for botanists and the keen amateur.
Wildflowers of Britain and Europe - Podlech and Lippert
It may seem like we are cheating by having two wild flower keys in this list, but this is one of my favourite ‘field’ guides, in a size and style perfect for throwing into a bag or rucksack ‘just in case’. It separates the plants by the colour of their flowers, making it easy to quickly jump to the section you need.
Collins Complete Guide to British Coastal Wildlife - Paul Sterry and Andrew Cleave
The ‘Collins Complete Guide to…’ series of books are proving themselves to be useful time and again. This coastal focused guide covers everything from plants which are only found within a mile of the sea, to some of the fish and mammals which we rarely see. A comprehensive guide which also covers the intricacies of tides and different zones on a beach.
Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland - Seasearch
If you really want to get into your seaweeds then this is the perfect book for you, it contains over 230 different species which are described with digital colour photographs and maps of distribution. It also contains a key for each group of seaweeds which will narrow down your search for the exact species you are looking at.
Seashore - Rod Preston-Mafham and Ken Preston-Mafham (Collins Gem)
A great pocket sized guide which covers the most commonly found British coastal species.
Foraging guides
The books listed below are a selection of quality books which are about coastal foraging and what exactly to do with your free beach food. These are a mixed bag, some are more recipe books, whilst a couple are a combination of basic species identification and usage, but without any sort of key or much information about lookalike species (unless they happen to be toxic!)
Edible Seashore - John Wright (River Cottage handbook series)
The River Cottage Handbook series contains several excellent wild food guides, and John Wright’s writing style is relaxed, informative and easily absorbed. The clear layout, well-researched information and good photographs make this an excellent companion to any foraging excursion. It covers not only the edible plants and seaweeds, but also guides to fishing, collecting molluscs and crustaceans and some recipe ideas for them all.
Eat The Beach - Fraser Christian
Fraser runs a wide and excellent range of coastal survival and foraging courses on the south coast of the UK, and has put some of his wealth of knowledge as an outdoorsman and professional chef into print. This guide covers the most common species, what is available when and how to practically use them all.
Seaweeds: Edible, Available and Sustainable - Ole Mouritsen, Mariela Johanse, Jonas Drotner Mouritsen
If you want to really get into edible seaweeds then this book is certainly worth adding to your library. From a Danish author it covers everything from the identification and scientific classification of seaweeds through to their use in food, medicine and other industries and crafts.
Sea Fishing - Nick Fisher (River Cottage handbook series)
Another River Cottage handbook, by UK fishing legend Nick Fisher. This, unlike a lot of angling and fishing guides, covers everything a novice will need to know, from terminology and equipment through to where to go, what to do and what to d
The Forager's Calendar - John Wright
This is a great book, well written and laid out and containing recipes for each species listed. My favourite feature of this book is that it can help with planning foraging trips if you are looking to target a particular species or when just getting started with foraging as each species is listed within it’s peak month.