Böcker av Judson Carroll

My love of foraging began in my earliest memories. Before I could walk long distances, my mom pulled me around in a little red wagon and picked all sorts of things for me to taste. She was not a hard core forager, but my grandfather not only planted all sorts of fruit and vegetables on his farm but encouraged edible wild plants to grow. Apparently, she had to keep a bottle of ipecac on hand because I tried to eat everything! By my teens, I was an avid forager, using field guides to identify edible plants and mushrooms.And, that is exactly the advice I would give you. Get a couple of good field guides and use a phone app to double check plant ID, if you do not have someone experienced to show you what is edible and what is not. That is how I learned (before cell phones). I did not have a mentor beyond the basics. I struggled with the decision whether or not to include pictures or illustrations of the plants in this book. In the end, I decided against it because a picture of a plant is just a snapshot in time. The same plant can look very different in a different environment, in different soil, with more or less water, or at varying times of year. I recommend the Peterson Field Guides for your region and the classic book, Botany In A Day by Thomas Elpel - these will teach you how to identify the plants using flower, stem and leaf structure. That is the most reliable and thorough way to truly learn a plant. Let me restate, THERE ARE NO PHOTOS OR DRAWINGS OF PLANTS IN THIS BOOK! I also do not discuss many edible mushrooms because mushroom foraging generally carries a bit more risk than plant foraging. Although I learned on my own, a mushroom mentor is essential for safety.This is a book about wild edible plants and how to enjoy them. This is a cookbook for those who enjoy wild food. Paired with a good field guide, This book will enable you to appreciate and enjoy the wild bounty that surrounds us. A field guide will tell you if a plant is edible, not what it tastes like or how to best prepare it.My recipes are mere suggestions based on my preferences. I rarely cook using recipes. I simply combine flavors using what I have on hand. It is essential to build a catalog of flavor memories in your mind, in your taste buds and your nose. If you are familiar with the pure flavor of each ingredient, you can create wonderful dishes using what you have on hand. Once you do this, and with a little practice, you can cook to your taste. That makes foraging and cooking much more exciting! I would never wish for a reader to look at one of my recipes and think, "Oh, I can't cook that because I don't have all the ingredients." I want you to have a general idea of each ingredient, so you can make substitutions.Many wild vegetables can be classified as mild salad ingredients, Alliums that are wild members of the onion and garlic family, greens that are like spinach, stronger/more bitter greens, plants that taste like asparagus, tubers that are somewhat like potatoes, sour plants, peppery plants, aromatic/herbal plants and flowers, seeds/grains, etc. With these flavors in mind and a familiarity with whatever herbs you have on hand, you can get very creative. Of course there are nuts and fruits, as well, but these are not really in season in the spring. In the spring, we can make salads, soups and casseroles out of many plants that are in season. So, my goal is to be a bit more creative... but don't forget there are easy ways to use most of these veggies and they are always tasty so long as they are harvested before becoming too tough in terms of greens and shoots.

A couple of years ago, after writing a book on the Christian (mostly Catholic) history of herbal medicine, I was invited to write semi-weekly Gospel Reflections for the Catholic publication, Missio Dei. This began my specifically Catholic writing. Being a convert to Catholicism, from Protestantism, I was unsure how my writing would be received. But, the feedback was very encouraging and gave me the confidence to write my conversion story, resulting in my book Confirmation, An Autobiography of Faith. Eventually, I became a regular writer for Missio Dei and was also invited to join the Catholicism Rocks team.The impetus that led me to begin exploring Catholicism while I was attending a Southern Baptist university was my knowledge of the Bible. I had made a habit of reading the Bible through each year since I was working in a Methodist youth ministry. I had a strong desire to be a part of a church whose doctrine agreed entirely with the Bible. To my surprise, I found that the only church whose doctrine is entirely in accord with the Bible is the Holy Catholic Church and I had no choice but to become Catholic.I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I have enjoyed reading it. Spending some time with each day's Gospel and reflecting on it has been spiritually enriching for me. I have made every effort to be accurate in my representation of Catholic teaching. Some topics and opinions in this book may surprise you though... as you may know if you listen to my podcast, "The Uncensored Catholic", I am not timid. I am a traditional, orthodox Roman Catholic, who is politically conservative and very opinionated.The Douay Rheims is my favorite English language translation of the Bible and the one I chose to quote for the daily Gospels. Occasionally I quote from modern Catholic Bibles, especially the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. Regardless, I made sure that all Biblical text came from approved Catholic Bibles.

This book is part of my series on the medicinal plants of the American Southeast. It focuses on plants commonly called weeds by those who do not know better. So many plants grow wild in on our remarkably diverse region that it can be very hard to differentiate between what is a weed and a wildflower. Originally, I had intended to include both weeds and wildflowers in this volume, along with grasses. But, that would have resulted in a book more than 1,200 pages long! I finally decided to only include those plants officially designated as weeds (including a few grasses) by the regional universities.... Not that they are experts. This book is not a guide for identifying plants - there are plenty of field guides, phone apps and websites that will do that. This book is about the medicinal use of these plants and is very unique in that regard. After all, what decides a weed? Some of the plants listed as weeds are native, and others non-native. Some are labeled "noxious"... as if that really means anything. Those so labeled are considered undesirable by the "experts." Essentially, a weed is any herbaceous plant that grows without human assistance.... Or, put another way, it is any plant that is growing where someone doesn't want it. If we plant a bed of lettuce and we find chickweed growing among our lettuces, chickweed would be considered a weed. If we grow chickweed to include in our salads, it is not a weed, regardless the name. If we grow a lawn of ornamental grass and find dandelions, they are considered weeds. If we grow dandelions for food and medicine, they are not. Just as there are no truly native or invasive plants, as seeds have spread throughout the world, from place to place long before the first human foot touched the earth, there are no true weeds. Many of the plants you will read about in this book are not only quite useful medicinally, but were brought to North America by European immigrants (and very likely by Asian and, perhaps Polynesian immigrants long before) to be grown as food and medicine. What is nice about "weeds" is that they often grow in poor soil and in conditions that cultivated vegetables and herbs could not survive. We do not have to till the soil, water or mulch these plants. They are just there every year. We have only to take the time to learn about them, identify them and harvest them. I believe firmly that God has provided these plants for our needs, and it is a very foolish man who will curse such gifts and douse them with dangerous chemicals. A pocket full of plantain leaves is worth far more than a manicured lawn. Our ancestors who gave us these "weeds" must surely dismay our ignorance.

This is the story of my conversion to Catholicism and a defense of Catholic doctrine. I was a student at a major Southern Baptist university and was working in conservative politics when I converted. Coming from an old southern family, this was a life changing decision. Although I did not know it at the time, it would mean being ostracized by friends and family and many hardships in the culturally Protestant American south. Regardless, becoming Catholic was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. While part of this book is auto-biographical, most of it is a simple explanation of Catholicism using the Bible and the writings of the earliest Christians to explain Catholic belief. This is not a book filled with lofty ideas or complex theology. Due to where I live, I have to be prepared to defend my Church and my faith from many well-meaning Protestants who have a deep hatred of the Catholic Church. I use the words of the Bible to show them that Catholicism is truly Biblical and that their beliefs are not. Often, such discussions lead to a mutual understanding of Christian brotherhood...or they get angry and tell me I am going to hell. You never know what to expect when there is a knock on your door or someone hands you a pamphlet at the grocery store. I grew up with the very real specter of the Ku Klux Klan and the Masonic Order, that violently opposed Catholicism and hated Catholics. Things have changed in that regard, for the better, but the prejudice remains. I hope that this simple book may lead others to explore Catholicism and find the "fullness of the truth." For Catholics, it will provide plain, Biblically based arguments to counter anti-Catholic attacks..

In 1911, Fr. Johannes Künzle published what would become one of the most important books written on Herbal Medicine in the 20th Century. This bold and outspoken Swiss priest wrote what was little more than a pamphlet on herbs and their use. His brief booklet, of fewer than 40 pages, sought to educate the common people of central Europe about the flowers, weeds and trees that grew in abundance, and how they may be used to treat common illnesses. Like his predecessor, Fr. Kneipp, his vision was of kitchen medicine, folk medicine, and a firm faith that God had provided all an individual of family could need for general health in the "Herbs and Weeds". His little book became a best seller. This led to fame that he generally did not desire, and to clashes with the medical establishment. He challenged that establishment and won court battles, proving that his herbs were sometimes even more effective than their medicine. This made Fr. Künzle an international figure. Fr. Künzle revitalized the tradition of "German Folk Medicine", and his booklet was likely to be found in any German speaking home. Unfortunately, then came the World Wars. Much of the world was at war with Germany and its allies. Books written in the German language were not to be seen in homes in America, England or France (etc.). Fr. Künzle's little booklet was never translated into English during his lifetime; only one such effort was made decades later, and that disappeared quickly. By the 2,000s, only scarce reference was found of Fr. Künzle, even online. I only became aware of his work through Maria Treben, the great Austrian herbalist who once more brought German Folk Medicine to the collective consciousness of the modern world. Made curious by brief mentions of Fr. Künzle in her books, I began a fruitless search for an English translation of his book either to purchase or in libraries. Fortunately, I had an Austrian friend. Jolanta Wittib and I met on The Grow Network Forums. I quickly recognized her as a skilled and experienced herbalist, in the tradition to which I was being drawn. So, I asked her if she would be interesting in collaborating on this book. To my surprise, she did... and, we have spent days and months enjoying and discussing this great work. All credit for the translation and the photos goes to Jolanta. What became evident to us early on was that the simple translation of the work was not sufficient. The brief booklet assumed a regional knowledge of plants. Some plants and many terms would be unfamiliar to English readers. Moreover, much has been learned about herbs and illnesses since Fr. Künzle's time. We decided to write our own commentary on his work, and expand on many points, as professional herbalists. The result was an entirely new work! Do not fear though, Fr. Künzle's words are still there, intact. His wisdom and delightful character shine through. We hope you will enjoy our book, and that it will find a valued place in your library.