Turning over another leaf

• Published date: 18 April 2024
• Publication title: Te Puke Times

by Peter Langlands, Penguin Random House, $50

Times are tough for most families. Perhaps it’s time to have a look around at what we can eat from our own gardens.

This is a comprehensive collection of 250 species we can eat — and some we really can’t — out of the 7500 edible species growing in New Zealand. Langlands has avoided endangered species which should really be left to flourish.

The secret is identifying your plant properly or you could have a nasty surprise. And he hasn’t included other plant uses such as healing, cosmetic use or dying fabric because there are plenty of other publications covering this.

There are instructions about how to use plants, picking the young leaves, or collecting seeds or stamens or stems...