Cattail Bob’s Book is Back in Print

Cattail Bob Seebeck’s popular local guide, Best-Tasting Wild Plants of Colorado and the Rockies (1998) is now back in print, self-published and available for purchase either directly from the author (email cattailbob[at]q.com) or the Pikes Peak Community College (PPCC) bookstore, with plans underway to make it available at Amazon in the near future. 

In recent years, used copies of the formerly out-of-print guide have been selling for upwards of $100 online. (Today I saw a new copy going for $229; holy crapola!) Seebeck is currently offering the re-issues for $25 plus $3 shipping & handling.   

The succinct field guide to approximately 70 edible plants deemed best-tasting by Bob is prized for its inclusion of four full-color pictures of each plant at different seasons of the year, aiding identification. Entries are divided into high and low altitude categories and include charts describing growth phases of plants by month and altitude. Look-alikes for edible plants are listed along with their toxicity in addition to a separate, bright-red-appointed section on toxic plants to be avoided. 

Instead of specific recipes, he includes food preparation suggestions such as this one for pennycress (Thlaspi arvense): “Strong, almost garlic-like flavor. …Young fresh leaves work best in salads, sauces, soups, and stir fries…,” leaving the reader free to invent her own wild concoctions. 

“I eat wild plants almost every day during the growing season, usually as a nibble or a snack, as I’m outside quite a bit,” Cattail Bob said. “Since my life right now is hectic between working, teaching, spending time with my son and working on my house and my rental house, I usually eat on the run anyway, so grabbing a wild edible plant I happen to see growing nearby fits my busy lifestyle. One day (I keep telling myself) I’ll have the time to work on original recipes and possibly a book on original wild edible plant recipes,” he said, adding that his favorite wild dish is his “special recipe for pancakes using wild amaranth seeds, buckwheat flour (not wild) and wild huckleberries.” Cattail Bob has not once been poisoned by eating wild edible plants. 

Nature and Self-Sufficiency

“I’ve always been interested in nature and self sufficiency, even as a kid,” Cattail Bob said. “In addition to my keen interest in survival and wild useful herbs, I’ve also built three homes using energy and self sufficient concepts. Two of those homes were built way out in the country and completely off the grid.” 

“I have very fond memories of my childhood, hiking in the hills around our house, fishing on the lake, growing things with my parents and grandparents (who lived next door),” said Cattail Bob, who grew up in the country on a lake back east. “I began teaching wilderness survival classes in my early twenties in Colorado. I also began working with the Larimer County Fire, Search and Rescue crew, eventually becoming a squad boss.” The proud father of a 17-year-old son, he now works as a foreman for a timber crew in the Monument area in addition to teaching. 

Wild Plant College 

Cattail Bob will offer “Survival Plants” and “Advanced Survival Plants” starting in April at PPCC. The classes are open to both enrolled students and members of the general public. In addition, two (indoor) 2-credit classes are under consideration by the college for January: “Survival Plants of Yellowstone and the Pacific Northwest” and “Survival Plants of the American Southwest.” Next summer, Cattail Bob will also offer “Survival Plants” at Red Rocks Community College in Denver for the first time. He continues to give summer classes in Drake through Loveland Parks and Recreation (combined with Greeley). 

Projects in the Queue 

The ever-busy author is also working on state-by-state series called Survival Plants of [insert State name] for Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. “I may eventually include Nevada,” he said. “I also have enough photos and information to someday begin books for Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and North and South Dakota.” 

“Each state has roughly 200 useful plants, give or take,” Cattail Bob explained. “By useful plants I mean wild edible, medicinal, poisonous and toolcraft herbs.” 

“Every state has a few useful herbs that are endangered or rare. I will not include those in my books nor do I teach these in my classes,” Cattail Bob added. “Some plants may be rare in one state but common in another, for example Datil Yucca is common in New Mexico and Arizona, but rare in Colorado.” The new Colorado book is slated for release in the Spring of 2012. 

In addition, stay tuned for Cattail Bob’s own “Smell the Wildflowers” game, designed to improve your wild olfactory prowess—definitely something an allergic asthmatic like yours truly could make use of to hone her smelling skills. 

Even Experts Need Experts 

You may read my blog and enjoy my off-color remarks, my tales of foraging joys and woes, but keep in mind that there’s a wealth of real expertise out there, in many cases in the form of self-published works by those whom I like to refer to as “OG” foragers—OG standing for “Original Gangster” and meaning “originator” or “most wise”—and in my opinion, Cattail Bob is one of the authors most deserving of the title. 

As for Bob, his favorite wild herbal author is Michael Moore. “His information on wild medicinals is very comprehensive and his sense of humor is entertaining,” Cattail Bob said. “His books however, don’t have enough photographs in my opinion. I was sorry to hear of his passing last year. We lost a great teacher and author who will be hard to replace.” 

Eating Wild & Local

“More and more people are becoming aware of the fact that vegetables grown close to home are healthier for us,” Cattail Bob concluded. “What better ‘close to home’ vegetables are there than wild edibles?”

NOTE: I wrote a piece about one of Cattail Bob’s classes in Drake on my old blog if you’re interested. Pictures are repeats.

Tagged with: authors • Colorado • foraging • OG foragers • Rocky Mountains

Filed under: edible • high altitude

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