Cranberries, wild blackberries, and other edible plants bloom at this time of year all along Nova Scotia's southern and eastern beaches, all the way to and around Cape Breton Island. Water-saturated fields allow them to grow inland and up the cliffs.

In these exact same locations earlier in the year, when the summer nights were getting longer, you would have discovered blueberries and huckleberries, along with maybe some raspberries and wild flowers. The odd one can still pop up from time to time.

Chanterelles would have appeared in cheery, tiny clusters of egg-yolk yellow in the drier dirt beneath the trees even earlier. Actually, the chanterelles were more plentiful this summer than they have ever been.

After a stroll, you might have discovered that you had a full basket plus a few extras in your pockets. Foraging, also known as gathering food in the wild, is not a recent practice.

The offspring and descendants of those who hunted it wild out of necessity have rediscovered it. It existed before health food shops, supermarkets, neighborhood stores, and many other kinds of marketplaces.

Many of us recall the yearly August blueberry or wild cherry picking events. Our mothers made jam and jelly preserves.

A fortunate few of us even possessed freezers in which we could keep bags of fruit. However, the untamed assembly of the past was accompanied by certain fundamentals that many of us lack nowadays: the knowledge of plant natural history.

We developed this knowledge by spending time with our elders; schools, at least in North America, did not teach it. It was a part of our oral legacy, an intangible cultural heritage that is difficult to quantify.

Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants of Nova Scotia is more than just a field guide; it is an invitation to explore the wealth that is right outside our door and reconnect with nature. Regardless of your level of experience in foraging or herbal medicine, this book will improve your knowledge and appreciation of the native plants that grow in Nova Scotia.

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