A beginners' guide to growing wild food in pots, making foraging easy.

The Flowerpot Forager details 30 wild edible plants that can be grown at home in containers with as much effort as you'd put into your tending your herb pot from the supermarket, plus a very simple recipe or two on how to use them—think pink clover lemonade, water mint pesto and dandelion salad. Foraging is a perennially aspirational hobby for gardeners and cooks alike, but it's now entering the mainstream; from supermarkets stocking wild garlic to Fever Tree spiking their tonics with elderflower, wild food is everywhere.

Historically, location has hampered the accessibility of foraging—if you don't live near a wood, riverbed or meadow, it can be difficult to find those lusted-after ingredients in cookbooks and on TV shows. But The Flowerpot Forager is here to solve that.

From the first ripe cherries in early summer to the smoky autumnal flavours of quince and medlar, The Orchard Cook contains over 80 sweet and savoury recipes. Classics are rediscovered here - fruit pies, tarte tatin, membrillo - as well as the more unusual - oysters with apple mignonette, Georgian sour plum sauce and pear juice-soused mackerel. Pickles, jams and chutneys are essential in using up surplus produce, and recipes for drinks and smoking foods using apple, pear and cherry wood help to build up a plentiful and self-sufficient larder for the thrifty cook.