If you want to dig into plants in the world around you, it is best to find someone who works with and is knowledgeable about plants and bug them until they teach you everything they know. In lieu of that option:
Books to buy and keep on hand: If you use these few books, you can figure out the identification and edibility of most plants of the Northeastern United States. Use Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (to figure out plants based on their flowers) and A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs: Northeastern and north-central United States and southeastern and south-central Canada (for trees and shrubs) for field ID, then refer to The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America and Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America to check their edibility. Do not consume any plants (or anything, for that matter) unless you are 100% certain of its identity, edibility, and that it is not contaminated in any way. Botany in a Day by Thomas Elpel is a great book for learning plant identification by family.
Botany Everyday: Marc Williams' website. Marc Williams is Hayden Stebbins' original ethnobotany teacher and mentor. An incredible resource for all things botanical (and a list of resources much more comprehensive than this one). Especially useful is a by-donation online course that runs from March to November. All past classes are available as well.
United Plant Savers: An amazing non-profit and plant preserve. They are worth a drive to Ohio. The preserve is on land that was a strip coal mine but was restored by Paul Strauss, and now is home to some of the greatest number and diversity of rare medicinal plants I've seen.
Go Botany: New England Wild Flower Society's website for botany of New England flowers.
Plant Identification on Facebook: Post a picture of a plant you found, and get an ID relatively quickly.