Meet the Authors
Don Wells
Don grew up in the Pacific Northwest during the depression and World War II. At the age of 11 or 12, he was in charge of the family’s Victory Garden. During this time, he helped his mother with the canning of all the produce and also learned to cook. Being very active in hiking, camping, hunting, and fishing, it was just natural that he would become very interested in the wild plants of the area.
After retirement in 1995, he and his wife, Glenna, came to Arizona and eventually became the hike leaders at La Hacienda RV Resort in Apache Junction. He also became active in SALT (Superstition Area Land Trust) and is a member of the Board of Directors. He serves on the board of the Pinal County Trail Association. He is crew chief for the Lost Goldmine Trail, constructed by SALT and Pinal County Trail Association. Don is one of the valley’s busiest winter visitors, leading informative hikes for groups of seniors, students, and hiking clubs from across the Valley of the Sun. Don hadn’t been a winter visitor very long before he fell in love with desert and became very interested in the Indian’s uses of the desert plants for food and medicinal purposes. To become a member of SALT you may go to azsalt@aol.org.
Jean Groen
Jean was raised on a Kansas farm during the depression and learned to eat anything that was put before her. Her slogan is “I eat anything that doesn’t eat me first”. Her paternal great grandmother was a Cherokee Indian from West Virginia. Jean has a degree in home economics from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. She started cooking when she was six years old and it has been a love of hers ever since. After getting married, she found the book “Stalking the Wild Asparagus” by Euell Gibbons, and this began her love of experimenting with weeds and seeds, plants and berries.
In early 1997 Jean took a job at La Hacienda RV Resort in Apache Junction, Arizona. There she met Don and Glenna Wells, who were the hike leaders. One conversation led to another and soon Don and Jean were giving presentations about foods of the Superstitions. Don would find the specimens and talk about the items, where they are found, what they look like, and the medicinal use for the plant, seed, or fruit. Jean would research Indian recipes for the item, try “modern” recipes using the product, and develop her own recipes she would provide tastes to the audiences.
From this was born the idea of a cookbook. Their first book was “Foods of the Superstitions…Old and New”. Since that time, many good things have happened! Don and Jean have given many presentations to senior groups and garden clubs; they have been featured in the major papers in the Phoenix area, as well as their local papers; Jean has been on TV several times; they lead the Curandero Walk at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum once each month; they have taught classes at Central Arizona College; and Jean was the featured speaker at Queen Creek’s Cactus Festival... Neighborhoods in Bloom.
From this, also, has spawned Don and Jean's love for making jelly from all of these plants. Many of the recipes are found in the books. Many more are in some stage of development! Jean doesn’t believe that there is a plant going (that is safe to eat) that can’t be made into some kind of delicious jelly.
