In this comprehensive spring foraging course, you will discover that dotted in the landscape are lots of different tasty and fresh spring wild edibles that will revolutionalise the way you interact with the lansdcape and your food. You can expect the following:
A discussion on how to forage ethically and sustainably and tips on which tools to use.
A short introduction on the benefits of foraging and some nutritional facts.
The laws of gathering and foraging spring plants and which sort of habitats to find different plants in.
An immersive walk journeying through magnificent landscape (we'll look at woodland, hedgerows, fields and rivers so you'll get a real breadth of knowledge of different habitats)
An in - depth look at how to identify wild spring edibles (we'll look at around 20 - 25), as well as other plants that you could confuse them with (I'll point out some poisonous ones as well) so you know what to avoid.
Methods and demonstration of preparation and cooking and storing - including pickling and drying.
The nutritional profile of spring greens, flowers, buds and herbs.
The history, folklore and traditional and modern uses of spring plants.
A discussion on some of their medicinal uses so you can make your very own spring - plant inspired medicine cabinet (tinctures, salves, syrups) to treat everyday ailments.
A Be Nutriful recipe book, jam - packed with wild spring recipes that you can later experiment with at your own pace.
Some hedgerow tasters (rhubarb cleaver lemonade anyone?)
The spring foraging course is suitable for adults or teenagers (above 12) with medium fitness. In total, we will walk around 7 - 8 kms at a slow pace, but please note that there will be some minor inclines, crossing of streams, uneven and muddy ground and a little bit of light scrambling. Please note that all teenagers must be accompanied by an adult.
If you have mobility issues, please email for a tailor - made course. It's also worth mentioning that public toilet facilities won't be available (apart from fields!) and we'll often be going to areas with minimal phone reception so we advise you make arrangements beforehand.
Before the spring foraging course, you'll be emailed a comprehensive list of what to bring. This includes robust footwear (hiking boots or shoes with good ankle support) since we will be traipsing across different terrains, which tend to be on the muddy side. Part of the spring foraging course often includes crossing a stream where there's lots of wild garlic so we encourage you to wear waterproof, comfortable and warm clothing as it can often be quite chilly.
We also advise that you bring a drink of your choice to enjoy with lunch, a hat and some sunscreen (if appropriate), some gloves (for picking some of the spikier plants), a pair of scissors or a penknife, and some mesh or ziploc bags to hold your harvest, as well as a notebook and pen to scribble down some notes and interesting plant facts.
While we're a fan of four - legged friends, we've found that dogs can be very distracting to others on the foraging course as well as disruptive to wildlife in the fields and woods, particularly birds. Sadly we don't allow any dogs on the foraging courses.
All our event booking are handled via our eventbrite page.
If you have any questions about a private spring foraging event (minimum 2-3 people), please go to our contact page.
The workshop is led by Flora, a qualified medicinal herbalist and naturopath and passionate forager and storyteller, who will cover the variety of culinary uses of around 20 plants (as well as how to identify some poisonous plants to avoid), and interesting and unusual folklore.
With her background in herbalism, Flora will explore the medicinal uses of some spring plants and teach you some of the forgotten wisdom of plants that abound in nearby hedgerows and fields and how to make a host of effective home remedies from spring 'weeds'. Find more about Flora here.
Spring plant foraging courses will be held in a variety of locations in Wiltshire and Devon. On eventbrite, each course will indicate the nearest town and region in the course title and description.
Before the course, you'll be sent the exact GPS location as well as parking information. If you want to enquire about lift - sharing, please email me before the course.
Our Spring foraging courses run throughout spring (March - May) and the majority of our courses are at the weekend (unless they are private functions) which means that the days we can run the courses tend to be limited. The courses will vary in content as spring is such an abundant season with new plants popping up and flowering throughout spring so each spring course is unique.
Please see our eventbrite collection for all the upcoming courses.
