Howdy jlyrgr! I guess somehow I ended up as the resident thing-eater and others have already given you a link to my wild edibles website. Learning edible wild plants can be somewhat daunting and frustrating, especially if you are trying to teach yourself.

Normally I recommend beginners start with the Peterson Guide to Wild Edibles along with Thomas Elpel's book, Botany in a Day. However a new book has come out that is very, very good.

The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identi...s by Sam Thayer. It puts all others to shame. Sam is the guy I want to be someday and his book is the book I wanted to write. It includes:
* 218 color photos, demonstrating each edible part in the proper stage of harvest, plus showing important identifying features
* Step-by-step tutorial to positive plant identification
* Photos and text comparing potentially confusing plants
* Thorough discussion on how to gather and use the plants
* Detailed information on harvest, preparation, and storage techniques
* A foraging calendar showing harvest times for wild foods
* A glossary of botanical terms illustrated with line drawings
* Bibliography and recommended reading list
* Index
* 368 6" x 9" pages
Amazon won't have this book until April but you can get it from his website now at the link above.

It doesn't have as many plants as the Peterson Guide, but you can actually use Sam's book to identify plants!
-Blast