Wild Foods of PEI Book Launch set for June 20

Wild food is everywhere.

PEI is famous for potatoes and seafood, but the forests, meadows, marshes, and shores are home to hundreds of species of edible plants and fungi. Of course, edible and palatable to not the same and award-winning biologist and forager Kate MacQuarrie knows the difference.

This book highlights 30 of her favourite wild foods, representing all seasons and habitats. She explains how, when, and where to harvest them - and shares some of her personal recipes, too.

Foraging can be elevated from the basic "can I eat this?" to a tool that helps people see plants, fungi, and the world around them in new ways. Each species in this book comes with fascinating, little-known information to pique curiousity. From the luminescent flowers of Evening Primrose to the insect-repelling properties of Pineapple Weed, readers will learn something new, fun, and interesting.

MacQuarrie has been eating wild foods, tracking wild animals, and interpreting the story this land tells about itself for more than 30 years. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in biology, has researched PEI's upland hardwood forests and coastal sand dunes, found plants not previously known to exist on the Island, and published papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals.

Wild Foods of Prince Edward Island will be launched on Friday, June 20th from 5:00PM to 7:30PM at the Beaconsfield Carriage House, 2 Kent Street, Charlottetown, PEI. All are welcome to attend.

The book is published by Acorn Press and will be available at The Bookmark, other local bookstores, Amazon, and Indigo. Price: $29.95.