Never eat a wild plant on a single feature. Confirm at least three independent identification features — leaf, flower/fruit, stem, smell, habitat — against at least two reliable field guides.
Illustrations alone are never enough. Use this book's plates as a starting point, then confirm in person with a knowledgeable local expert before your first harvest of any species.
Learn the deadly look-alikes first. Before gathering any wild food, learn its poisonous doubles in the High-Risk Index. Many deadly plants share habitats with edibles.
The taste-and-spit rule is not a safety test. Some deadly plants taste fine at first. Never use taste to identify an unknown plant.
Avoid contaminated ground. Never forage near busy roads, sprayed fields, industrial sites, or downstream of mines and feedlots. Avoid areas treated with herbicides — and never eat anything from a lawn you didn't watch grow unsprayed.
Start small. Even a correctly identified edible can disagree with you. Eat a small portion first and wait 24 hours before eating more.
Know the law. Foraging is restricted or banned in many national parks, nature preserves, and private land. Get permission and permits; see the Legal notes below.
Harvest sustainably. Take no more than a tenth of what you find, never take the only patch, and leave roots and bulbs of slow plants alone unless the species is abundant. See Sustainability below.