Learning to Forage

This spring i decided I wanted to learn how to forage for some of my own food.  However I fear that I will pick the wrong plant and get myself and or someone else sick.  Even with this always in the back of my mind I want the chance some day to walk in the woods and come out with a foraged blunder of goodies.
On this new adventure this year I am going to do my research on foraging and read all the books I possibly can.  I went to the public library were I live and was surprised to find a good variety.  I have checked a few out of the library.  I have also taken advantage of the internet and its resources.  I made sure that the websites I was looking at were reputable and not just some one like me filling your head with lies.  There are also some great apps that you can download to your phone to help you with identification of some of the common edible wild plants.  Last but not least you can purchase some books on this as well, I suggest second hand books for this as paying full price for books these days is not needed.
All of this new information that I am getting needed to go somewhere other than my head.  I created a binder to store all my notes and print offs from the internet.
I have learned so far that memorizing the plants and the way they look throughout there life cycle is critical to picking the correct plant and not the one that will swell your eyes shut!!!!
This is were having a great guide book and or the apps they have online come in handy.  The best way is to start out small, what I mean is pick a few wild edibles that you think you would enjoy and go with it.  Learn how it looks, and were it grows by going into the woods and look around.  There are a lot of forest preserves were I live and they are a great place to go, take a walk and look for these plants off from the beaten trail.  Do not pick any edibles!!!!!Please read up online if you are able to do this in forest preserves, as most wont, however it does not mean you cant observe, take notes and or pictures to create your own guide.
I have found so far that this hobby of mine takes a lot of work, dedications and commitment.  You need to know what you are doing.  Always remember to take care of nature, do not over pick areas and always leave the woods the way mother nature intended it to be.