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Joyful Outdoors
  • home
  • Workshops
    • Foraging
    • Laughter yoga
    • Bushcraft
    • Map Reading
    • Women's Adventures
  • Event calendar
  • Corporate
  • Contact me
  • About me
  • Blog

Foraging courses in Surrey

Group learning about edible wild plants during a foraging walk in Surrey with Joyful Outdoors.

Curious about wild edible plants but worried about getting it wrong?

Want to reconnect with nature but don’t know where to start?


"What a great antidote to the news...get outside and eat some leaves!"


Join me - passionate forager, qualified ethnobotanist, wild food lover and member of the professional Association of Foragers - for a foraging walk designed for beginners looking to build confidence and deepen connection with nature. 


These walks will feed your soul, spark your curiosity and kindle a love affair with wild plants. 


We’ll use all our senses to identify fascinating edible plants, discuss safe foraging practices, and explore the best ways to reconnect with the wild. You’ll learn how to recognise and avoid poisonous plants, understand ethical foraging, and gain hands-on experience that makes the natural world feel more familiar and accessible.


As a proud member of the Association of Foragers, I follow their ethos of restoring vital connection—bringing back lost knowledge and appreciation for the plants growing all around us.


By the end of the walk, you’ll leave inspired, confident, and full of ideas for using nature’s abundance in your own kitchen. 🌿


Please note that these aren't mushroom or herbal medicine walks.

Spring foraging walks and workshops near Guildford

Foraging basket full of spring wild edible plants.

Spring Wild Pesto Woodland Workshop (one of the Sunday Soul Sessions series)

Sun 13 April (10.00 - 13.00) - ONLY 1 PLACE LEFT

Bramley, near Guildford


Get hands-on with wild garlic & spring wild greens. Learn edible plant identification & how to make your own pesto out in the woods. This is one of my series of seasonal woodland workshops called Sunday Soul Sessions and you can check out all the detail on the Bushcraft page...or just crack on and book directly hitting the button below. 


£45 per person 18+ (adults only)


Nurture yourself in nature

Foraging Walk and Nettle Cordage-Making Workshop

Thursday 1 May 2025 (10.00 - 12.30)

National Trust Dapdune Wharf, Guildford


Join us for a relaxing morning of edible plants and crafting with wild materials.


We'll start with a wander around Dapdune Wharf, exploring the edible plants on site, and follow this up by learning all about the ancient art of making cordage (ie string) from nettles. Discover the traditional techniques and practical uses of this sustainable material which you can use in the garden to tie up plants, or to make lovely bracelets! 


This event is perfect for nature lovers, plant lovers, craft enthusiasts, and anyone curious about foraging and traditional skills. Come prepared to get your hands dirty (but not stung!) and leave with a newfound appreciation for the versatility of nettles.


Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to connect with history, nature and learn a valuable skill.


Suitable for adults and older children.


£29 per person (age 11+) / £15 for children aged 5-10 inclusive / under 5s no charge

click here to book

Godalming Evening Foraging Walk with wild food tasters

Thursday 22 May 2025 (18.30 - 20.30)

Gorgeous riverside location in Godalming


2 hour walk including delicious tasters made using wild ingredients


Landscape - hedgerow, meadow, riverside 


£35 per person (age 11+) / £15 for children aged 5-10 inclusive / under 5s no charge

click here to book

Private foraging walks & workshops with Joyful Outdoors...

Foraging group looking at nettle seeds through a lense.

Private Foraging Walk or Collaboration

Please contact me to discuss your requirements.

Email Elspeth to chat about a private booking or collaboration

Why people love foraging with Elspeth

Group of adults on a foraging course at Birtley House in Bramley, Surrey,

 "Great event, Elspeth is so lovely and super passionate about working with nature. I can’t recommend highly enough, thank you. xxx"


Holly D 

Delicious wild garlic pesto made from foraged wild ingredients.

 " Elspeth communicates her love and knowledge of plants really well and we discovered a beautiful corner of the Surrey Hills. We will come back!"


Sofia L

Foraging group out on a foraging walk in Godalming with Elspeth from Joyful Outdoors

 "What a wonderful experience, we loved it. There’s so much great stuff out there just waiting to be eaten....! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us in such a clear and interesting way. PS. Great shortbreads." 


Cheryl K 

foraging group on the River Wey in Godalming, enjoying a foraging workshops with Joyful Outdoors

 "Wonderful, immersing, fascinating! I will definitely be back to join Elspeth at Joyful Outdoors again in the near future or organise an event locally with her..... I love how passionate and knowledgeable Elspeth is."


Hannah M 

Women having a foraging adventure in Bramley, Surrey.

 "Elspeth is a very fun and knowledgeable foraging teacher.  We had a fab Saturday morning with her end of March.....Definitely recommend this session to anyone who is interested in getting back to nature a bit in today's consumer-crazy world...." 


Andrea R   

Basket of wild foraged edible plants

 " We had the most wonderful walk with lovely Elspeth yesterday. It was just what we wanted. Elspeth was so welcoming, so passionate about what she does and such a happy person! Highly recommend!! We had no idea that such edibles lie on our doorstep!" 


Kelly W  

Foraging for wild mushrooms in spring

"Attended a brilliant and social foraging walk with Elspeth and left feeling well informed, energised and keen to learn more about the edible plants all around us. Elspeth is knowledgeable and infectiously passionate about nature and the outdoors. I loved sampling the delicious foraged greens pesto too! Highly recommend."


Lisa F 

Wild garlic in spring

 "Elspeth's knowledge and enthusiasm made this such an enjoyable and educational experience.  Plus you get to taste the foods she's made from foraged plants - the cake was AMAZING ." 


Ruth S

Frequently Asked Questions about foraging events

Please email elspeth@joyfuloutdoors.co.uk if you can't find the answer to your question.

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 either book a private session, or book onto to a Sunday Soul 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!


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07780 608016

elspeth@joyfuloutdoors.co.uk


Joyful Outdoors is based in Godalming, Surrey. 

Outdoor workshops, nature activities & laughter yoga in Surrey, West Sussex, Hampshire and London. 

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