I was eager to learn about mushrooms from Nova Kim, the wild mushroom lady of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, who lives mostly on foods picked in the wilderness. Hunting wild mushrooms and other wild edibles in Nova's livelihood and her love. "If you want to get high on life," she told me, "come with me in the woods for a while."

Nova and her husband Leslie Hook, have started an annual mushroom festival as well as mushroom society. ìMost of the locals say ëyuckí to mushroom at first, ìlaughed Nova. ìthe three hundred edible mushrooms in the Northeast are not all gourmet, but theyíre better that what you get in the supermarkets. Giant puffballs and dead manís angles go onto her focaccia and chicken of the woods go into her soup.

Before we headed out on our mushroom foray, we had to learn mushroom basics. "Unless you are very, very sure about the wild mushroom, thank it an return it," she told me. "Mushrooms, after all, can be deadly." Nova suggests taking spore print if you are unsure, and checking a mushroom guidebook or the U.S.D.A. guidelines. If you are still unsure, return them to the wild.

While in the woods with Nova and Leslie, I learned about much more than mushrooms. When I look at the forest, I just see trees and foliage. When nova and Leslie look, they see an entire world from which they get their food and livelihood. "I read about the wild the way others read mystery novel," said Nova. "And I have a wild food palate so I can taste subtle flavors of the mild and the bitter. Most people fall into a pattern of similar flavors and are resistant to any variation."

As for Nova's favorites, she said, "I like just about all the seventy kinds of wild mushrooms that we collect, since there is such variation in texture and flavor. Pheasant back, snow shrimp, bearís head, honeys—It's like asking a mother which child she likes best."