Learn to Forage
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Come and join me on the South Downs, near to Petersfield Hampshire & West Sussex for my workshop walks. Explore the stunning natural and ancient landscapes with an expert guide who will teach you the names and uses of the things you find along the way.
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What is Foraging?
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Long before we invented shops, our ancestors would know by heart the land, this knowledge is the same that I have developed over a lifetime of foraging too. I know where everything I would want to find grows within a 15-mile radius of my own home. I have spent a lifetime discovering these things and enjoy a diet made up of lots of foraged food. Foraging is the ancient way, the roaming of the land discovering and harvesting food, medicine, and plants to use for clothes, housing, and survival.
When we forage we are seeking plants and fungi in the wild that are mainly native to our land. They appear in great abundance and would have been the very same food sources that sustained our ancient communities and tribes.
Modern foraging is still a necessary activity, it returns us to our roots, connects us deeply to ourselves and our place within nature, whilst offering time to embrace a slower and more mindful activity. A chance to pause in a very busy world. The very act of searching whilst walking is incredibly calming on the nervous system, not to mention all of the goodness to be found in playing with plants, soil, and breathing forest fresh air!
Foraging not only improves the quality of the food you eat but gives you an incredible amount of joy and excitement and overall improves your lifestyle to become a much more healthy one. Foraging and spending time in nature is the best therapy and helps those to heal who are suffering from emotional difficulties.
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Foraging is a wonderful mindful practice to enjoy alone or as a family, children love to learn all about the natural world, discovering the names and uses of all they find. Learning to forage as a child is most likely the best way to ensure a lifelong love for and guardianship of the natural world.
Forage for Food
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No matter the season, there is always something you can go foraging for, something wild to implement into your diet, and with wild foods being so much more nutrient-dense and sustainable, why wouldn't you want to eat the wild!
Free food, that offers wonderful memories on the hunt, that tastes amazing, is good for you and there was no need for pesticides, fertilizers, transporting the food around the world and it doesn't come in any plastic packaging. Truly sustainable and did I mention it's got to be the best-tasting food ever!
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Nature is abundant with tasty and nutritious roots, leaves, mushrooms, berries, nuts, and more!
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Not only will you learn to safely harvest wild ingredients for yourself on my workshops, we will also discuss and discover traditional uses and ways to preserve our foraged finds to enjoy throughout the year.
Forage Safely
Many people are always quick to mention how they wouldn't dare to go foraging alone because they would most likely kill themselves, I am glad that most people know to be this careful!
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Is foraging dangerous? Yes, foraging can be deadly dangerous and this is why we need to always remember to take the time to learn slowly and always learn from an expert guide and study many resources and good books.
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All wild things change dramatically during their lifecycles. Some wonderful foods have deadly look-a-likes. It is my approach to teach you in balance both the wild foods and the things to be incredibly careful of.
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While foraging can be incredibly dangerous, if not treated with great respect, it can also be completely life-changing for the better!
By taking the time to ensure we are dressed properly, know the land we are foraging on and ensure we take great care with our correct identification, foraging will most likely become one of your most favourite ways to spend time. The thrill of the hunt, the joy of finding wonderful wild foods and the beautiful sights that you will experience outside all make foraging one of the best free past times in the world. Not to mention the benefits for your mental and physical health and general well being.
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The key to truly safe foraging is time. Time to learn each plant and fungi one by one. Time to study all of their changes throughout their entire growth cycle. Time to learn about and find deadly look-a-likes. During all of this time, you will soon begin to feel a certain level of confidence for one thing after another and the plants and mushrooms will become familiar faces you recognise as easily as you do many other things such as acorns, blackberries and conkers. Practice truly makes perfect.
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This is why I offer foraging taster experiences and dedicated 6-week foraging courses, for those who want to invest in learning a wonderful life skill and give it the proper time and attention it requires to become safe foraging alone and with your friends or children.
Forage Legally & Sustainably
Foraging when practiced with respect for nature, land owners, and practiced within the law, is a thoroughly sustainable and legal activity.
Foraging is in fact your birth right to enjoy the gifts of nature, the food, the medicine, as you are like the deer that roam the forest, and have every right to call this place your home.
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Nature is abundant and if you have ever spent much time outdoors, you will know how very abundant it can be.
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Hedgerows alone in spring and summertime are abundant with wild foods. If we follow the idea of only taking what we need and leaving plenty behind for other foragers and the wildlife, we can be sure that we are not over-harvesting. As long as we are taking care of our footsteps and the harvesting techniques we use, we can actually improve the wild by spreading seeds, spores, and encouraging the growth of wild species in our own gardens.
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Wild foods are as eco-friendly as it gets, we also benefit from knowing our exact food source, enjoying much more nutrient-dense foods that have not been farmed, only using rainwater and the soil they stand in for nutrition, foods that don't come with any packaging or air miles attached. Perfection.
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Do we harm the wildlife if we forage? Absolutely not, if you remember to only take a little, never pick rare species or where there is no abundance of what you seek, and never dig up any wild plants, you will not be leaving any devastation behind you!
Safety & Legal Advice
UK and Local Bylaws that affect foraging.
It is illegal to dig up any kind of root growing anywhere in the UK unless you have the landowner’s permission; you are not allowed to uproot anything you may be picking from either.
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Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and the Theft Act it is illegal to pick wild food from anywhere in the UK to sell unless you have the landowner’s permission.
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You are allowed to harvest fungi (if not protected), fruit, leaves and foliage, and flowers for your own consumption from most common land, but check local bylaws first and make sure you have the permission of the landowner if you are on private property. For a forager, this means making sure you research the areas you go to thoroughly and read any available signs.
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It is not legal to forage on any cultivated area such as farmland or orchards unless with the land owner’s permission.
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Do not deplete the natural environment when foraging, remember to only take a small quantity of whatever you need, leaving enough behind for the local wildlife, and to ensure that you do not wipe out a habitat, plant or species from an area.
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Use common sense and have respect for the plants and the area you are picking in.
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Nothing in this website encourages you to contravene any of these laws. They are there to protect landowners and nature.
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Never forage for foods or plants at roadsides, find healthy areas away from pollution, traffic, and fields that are sprayed with pesticides or fertilizers.
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Do not pick from places that dogs may use as a toilet.
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Wear protective suitable clothing, remember that there may be poisonous or dangerous plants within the vicinity of the plant you may be working with, thus making it essential that you know not only the good plants but should educate yourself on what is dangerous.
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Remember that some plants have deadly lookalikes, it is your responsibility to know what you are doing.
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When foraging for wild food, you must be able to correctly identify what you are picking, otherwise, you should never eat it or use it on your skin.
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Never eat any wild food without multiple sources of positive identification do not eat any wild plants or mushrooms just from viewing this website.
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SOME WILD PLANTS AND MUSHROOMS IN THE UK ARE DEADLY POISONOUS.
You use the content in this website at your own risk, this website and its owner will not be held responsible for any harm that you may bring to yourself.