Spring is right around the corner — and with it, the joy of all things green, growing, and delicious. From backyard gardens with tidy rows of sprouting carrots and beets, to local forests full of wild mushrooms and berries, the spring season is a promise of future bounty. So there’s no better time than now to learn a thing or two about the food we eat — from seed to table — and maybe pick up a new hobby along the way. Whether it’s a guide to the bees that pollinate our gardens, or a cookbook with recipes from around the globe, these books are a great opportunity to learn new things, and cook something delicious.
Show Me the Honey: Adventures of An Accidental Apiarist by Dave Doroghy (TouchWood Editions)
This aptly titled book shares the adventures, mistakes, trials and joys of beekeeping. Author Dave Doroghy was given 15,000 honeybees as a gift but had little know-how as to how to care for them—until he jumped in with both feet to learn as much as he could, as quickly as he could. Along the way, Doroghy learned about both the bees—and their much-desired honey—and himself. He continues to keep bees at his floating home just outside Vancouver, inspiring others to follow in his footsteps through his popular blog houseboathoney.com.
Edible and Medicinal Flora of the West Coast: British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest by Collin Varner (Heritage House)
This practical guide to the many varieties of edible and medical plants and funghi that grow wild along the coast of BC, Washington and Oregon is a fascinating and useful book for both new and experienced foragers. Offering up full-colour photographs, descriptions, safety tips and warnings, and explanations of both culinary and medicinal uses for more than 130 plants and funghi, the book is a one-stop educational resource. Author Collin Varner is a horticulturalist and arboriculturist who began his career at UBC’s Botanical Garden, and spent more than 40 years working and teaching in the region.
A Guide to the Medicinal Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest: Health Benefits and Other Therapeutic Uses by Svetlana and Eugene Poltavets (Hancock House)
Want even more mushrooms? Coming to local shelves this spring, this guidebook promises a deep dive into the medicinal mushroom species that exist through the Pacific Northwest. Known for its distinct and ancient varieties of plants and funghi, this region has a wide selection of mushrooms with a variety of known health properties. The guide includes 200 medicinal mushrooms, alongside full colour photos and descriptions, making it a welcome addition to the limited selection of resources on this topic.
Saving Seeds: A Home Gardener’s Guide to Preserving Plant Biodiversity by Dan Jason (Harbour Publishing)
What are the practical benefits of saving seed? What are the philosophical considerations? And how, exactly, does one go about it? Author Dan Jason explores the shift from times past in which most farmers saved seed from year to year, to the modern era where large corporations own trademarks on seeds, leading to reduced diversity and a loss of heirloom varieties. This book goes beyond the conversation about the value of seed saving into the essentials of actually doing it at home from our own gardens — from tips on how to harvest and store seeds, to the growth of seed swapping communities.
Bisous and Brioche: Classic French Recipes and Family Favorites from a Life in France by Laura Bradbury and Rebecca Wellman (TouchWood Editions)
Born from author Laura Bradbury’s best-selling Grape Series memoirs, this cookbook — created in collaboration with photographer and cookbook author Rebecca Wellman — features recipes gleaned from Bradbury’s life in Beaune, Burgundy. From family favourites to recipes shared by French friends and neighbours, the cookbook includes classic French dishes, accompanied by stories and colour photographs of not just the food, but the local landscape, markets and more.
Milk, Spice and Curry Leaves: Hill Country Recipes from the Heart of Sri Lanka by Ruwanmali Samarakoon-Amunugama (TouchWood Editions)
Childhood memories of happy meals, exciting trips to the local market, and travels through her homeland in Sri Lanka were the inspiration for this cookbook from author Ruwanmali Samarakoon-Amunugama. Filled with the favourite flavours of Sri Lankan cooking — from mango to cashews, tart lime and spicy chili pepper — and the foundations of coconut milk, rice, and various spices, these recipes are designed with North American home cooks in mind. The book goes far beyond the traditional “cookbook” with lush photography, hand-drawn illustrations, heirloom photos and much more.
Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food by Gina Rae La Cerva (Greystone Books)
What are “wild foods” and how has our understanding of them changed? Geographer and anthropologist Gina Rae La Cerva looks at the shift from a world in which most diets were found in the wild to the modern world, in which so-called “wild foods” are now expensive commodities served in top restaurants. By tracing the history of foods, and travelling the world to sample many herself, the author gives a closer look at not just how and what we eat today — but what we’ve lost along the way.