Required Reading: The Outside Institute Field Guide to the Hudson and Upper Delaware Valleys

For aspiring East Coast adventurers who want to explore nature in the Hudson and Upper Delaware valleys, The Outside Institute’s new guide to local flora, fauna, and fungi identifies 52 kinds of prevalent trees, mushrooms, plants, birds, and other animals.

Co-written by Gardenista contributor Laura Silverman and naturalist-at-large Gilian Rappaport, the 128-page volume one of The Outside Institute Field Guide has illustrations by artist Lucy Engelman.

The first of three seasonal volumes, The Outside Institute Field Guide focuses on summertime environs, and in addition to descriptions of plants and animals has “medicinal, culinary, craft, and historical information of note,” says Silverman.

Above: Founded last year, the Outside Institute has as mission is to connect people to the natural world, through year-round programs: guided walks, forest bathing, plant-based workshops, and foraging wild foods.

Above: The field guide is published through Wms & Co, which also sells well-designed “exquisitely practical tools to enhance daily life.”

Above: A second fall/winter volume of the field guide will be published in October.

Above: An entry on black trumpet mushrooms includes an illustration to help visually identify the fungus.

A third volume of the field guide, for spring, will be published in April.

See more of Laura Silverman’s work, including the spoils of a seaside foraging trip on Cape Cod:

• An End-of-Summer Trip to Cape Cod with Laura Silverman
• Garden-to-Table Recipe: Pickles from a Cook’s Garden
• Garden Visit: A Cook’s Garden in Upstate New York