Florida's Edible Wild Plants : A Guide to Collecting and Cooking

Living off the land is a romantic idea, but in practice it can be confusing. So instead we buy nuts someone else picked for us, berries packaged hundreds of miles away, and greens that may or may not contain contaminants.

In Florida’s Edible Wild Plants, Peggy Lantz demystifies the process of foraging to help you discover the wonder of finding and eating wild plants that grow right in your backyard. She shares her fifty years’ experience studying and gathering wild edibles and bringing them to her family’s table. This practical knowledge is interspersed with recipes and fun stories about searching for and finding new plants with her children and serving “weeds” to curious friends.

From acorns to wild sorrel, from duck potato soup to elderberry champagne, this easy-to-use guide provides general information about the most common wild edibles in Florida that are not only good for you but also good to eat. And the tips for preparing them are indispensable. Lantz offers specific advice for locating and harvesting the different edible parts of each plant, whether it’s gathering walnuts in the panhandle or making jelly from Keys coco plums.

Peggy Lantz (1933–2025) was a writer, editor, and naturalist. Lantz was an instructor for the Florida Master Naturalist Program; editor of the Palmetto, the magazine of the Florida Native Plant Society; and editor of the Florida Naturalist, the magazine of Audubon Florida. Her many books include Florida’s Incredible Wild Edibles, The Young Naturalist's Guide to Florida, and The Florida Water Story.