Try Feasting Free on Wild Edibles by Bradford Angier You should check Peters guides for Edibles & Poisonous plants. The first step in wild edibles is knowing what is poisonous raw & what can be cooked & eaten safely. Example: Nightshade plants, leaves & stems are poisonous. Tomatoes,white potatoes,sweet & hot peppers,egg plants are all in the Nightshade family. As many of you know these plant fruits are safe to eat, well some of the hot peppers are not "safe", but not poisonous.

Thanks, everybody, for your comments. I ended up emailing Sophie Hodorowicz Knab, who writes for the Buffalo-based Polish-American Journal, and is the author of a fascinating little book called Polish Herbs, Flowers & Folk Medicine. Much to my delight, she responded to my inquiry. Here's what she had to say: Hi Cecilia! Thak you for owning my book! I appreciate the support. My book on herbs was not all inclusive as a publisher imposes page limitations but I looked up komosa on a Polish website and indeed, it exists and very likely what you are looking for. If you keep scrolling down on the website you will see that there are two types of komosa: komosa biala(chenopodium album) and komosa strzalkowa (chenopodium bonus-henricus). The leaves of both are edible and native to Europe. The people of Poland foraged the land and were expert at finding herbs and plants to eat especially during times of famine and hardship. It's wonderful that you have this wonderful memory of your family. Plant it in your garden as a memory to your family and heritage. Best of luck to you. Sophie Hodorowicz Knab Here is a link that might be useful: Polish plant website showing Komosa

Petersons publishes both a medicinal plant and edible plant guide that are invaluable resources but if you are a novice to wild plants and identifying them, I would suggest starting your learning from someone in person. Books are wonderful and I have taught myself much from them but my first teachers about plants, plant safety, and plant identification were my parents when I was very young. I also have taken many in-person identification and herbal medicine classes as well as guided walks and tours. Please look for classes or perhaps herbalists in your area. Wildcrafting and processing the plant material is time-consuming. I'm sure many herbalists would trade learning for help in collecting and processing botanical material. And in learning about your wild resources, be sure to check out United Plant Savers for a list of plants that are "at risk." These are native, medicinal plants that have been decimated in the wild. Be sure to temper your collecting with good stewardship. Good luck in your endeavors! FataMorgana Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon link to Peterson's Medicinal plant book

For mushrooms I would see if you could enlist an instructor in field Botany course from your local college. No better way to learn the ins and outs than from someone who really knows. Learn how to do spore prints and get some really great books, and then go with a guide and stick with the "easy" varieties. A lot of wild edibles are catalogued in readily available field guides for the local area. To me I think the most productive forums for useful responses would be the local gardening ones. For me I would go to gardenweb.com/forums/txgard because I live in Texas. But that's where you're going to find the locally knowledgeable folks. My favorite wild harvests in central Texas are: wild onions (great with peas!), dewberries, and mustang grapes. Not very exotic but they make great jellies. The grapes will be ready in 2-3 more weeks.