Foraging courses in Surrey

There are generally a lot of wild plants to talk about in a very small area! We'll normally cover 1 - 2km on a 2.5 hour walk. The wild garlic walks are the longest as we have to ascend a short hill to get into the woods.

This is a real question by the way! Learning about wild plants is for everyone, and is a  brilliant way of engaging with nature. It's great for helping us to slow down, really stop and notice nature, for better wellbeing and to add interest to walks. And who knows, you might even be convinced to start using the occasional wild plant in your diet, which is great for your gut health. 

I think some people think that foraging is a really niche way of life, but it doesn't have to be....joining a foraging walk could be the start of a lifelong adventure! And yes, you can still feed your children fish fingers!

I encourage people to use their senses when learning about wild plants. We crush plants to release their aroma, use high magnification hand lens to really observe the details, and yes where possible and appropriate we taste the wild plants. Of course, that is up to each individual if they want to do that, and depending on individual tolerance and allergies eg anyone with serious allergies may choose to be more cautious. You may wish to bring a bottle of water to wash any plants before you taste them. 

It's important that you don't use taste to ID plants, especially as a beginner forager. You must be 150% certain that you have correctly identified a plant and certain that it's edible, before putting it in your mouth. 

On all walks of 2.5 hours +, I will bring delicious tasters for you to enjoy, made using wild ingredients.

On my foraging walks you will get to know many amazing plants and the focus is on learning, not harvesting to take home. If you'd like to be gathering and processing, please book a private session. 

As a member of the Association of Foragers, I abide by their Principles of Practice which can be found here.

Foraging guidance from the Food Standards Agency can be found here and the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI) has a great guide found here which all foragers should read.

I love dogs, but these walks aren't suitable for energetic dogs due to the slow pace.

Please see the full cancellation and refund conditions here. Essentially, no refunds are given with 14 days or less notice from the date of the event. 

Common Spring species that we may find, depending on the site, can include chickweed, Scots Pine, cleavers, red dead nettle, white dead nettle, cuckoo flowers, ribwort plantain, water mint, hawthorn blossom & leaves, yarrow, dandelions, red clover, ground ivy, wood sorrel, common sorrel, herb robert, wood avens, common hogweed, bramble, garlic mustard, nettles, daisy, linden leaves, primrose, sweet violet, hairy bittercress, golden saxifrage, greater stitchwort as well as many species of native trees.

Of course these can't be guaranteed and depend on what nature decides to present to us on the day!