Open courses
My courses typically run between March and November. These dates are for scheduled wild food workshops and foraging walks, open to all (unless otherwise stated).
You can also book a bespoke, corporate or private session with me for a larger group (usually min 6 adults), tailored to your requirements, subject to my availability (often pretty limited, but do ask!). I don’t usually do private courses for individuals or couples, as my day rate is the same for one person as it is for many. Please note I have very little capacity left for this year for private events.
I’m also planning some more online foraging sessions, building on the ‘follow along’ live foraging events we enjoyed in previous years. Follow me on instagram to hear more about those in the coming weeks!
Gift vouchers
I can do gift vouchers for specific published dates (listed on this page) or I can do an open voucher valid for up to a year from the date of purchase. See my terms for info on vouchers and my courses.
Upcoming workshops, events and course dates
Autumn 2024
I have a few autumn dates this year, all in October and a couple in November, due to being away a lot and other commitments in September and the second half of October, and frosts usually arriving after mid-Nov. I mostly teach in spring and autumn, as these are the most abundant times for foraging and variety of edibles. There will be more spring and coastal dates coming in the new year also.
Courses usually book up quickly, and are secured on full payment. When a course is full, you can join the waiting list for any you would like to attend should any places become available later. Some courses are pure teaching (no food), others include foraged tasters (with al fresco cook-up)! These are priced accordingly, check listing for details. See my updated full course terms as well before you book.
Please note that I’ll mostly be doing pure teaching courses this autumn; only a couple of dates will have a cook up included as well. This is because I have a lot of other commitments going on, and planning, collecting and doing food on my courses takes days of extra prep and energy. I have limited autumn dates coming up, in Leeds, wider Yorkshire and Cumbria, (and I’ll also be visiting Scotland and Ireland).
Autumn 2023 events
Autumn fruits & fungi foraging course : north Lakes, the Lake District, Cumbria
Sat 5 October | 10:30-16:30ish | £60
Join us for an immersive introduction to autumn greens, seeds, nuts, trees and, of course, fungi in the northern Lake District, Cumbria. I love these Lakes sessions, we usually find amazing amounts and variety of wild food, in a beautiful part of the world.
We’ll take a slow walk through lush green woods, with mixed tree types and habitats, looking for autumnal edibles to meet and learn about. We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll have a good hunt about for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden or local park are edible, nutritious and tasty!
It’s best if you can come by car for this course and location, public transport may come nearby but it’ll be a bit of a walk to the start point of our course. Please contact me about this before booking if you aren’t able to bring your own transport.
Adults £60 | children (age 8-15) £20 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, and quite a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it! I’d say it’s not suitable for younger children, it’s too far and too long to concentrate)
Email me to book or for more information
Autumn fruits & fungi foraging course : south Lakes, Lake District, Cumbria
Sun 6 October | 10:30-16:30ish | £60
Join us for an immersive introduction to autumn greens, seeds, nuts, trees and, of course, fungi in the southern Lake District, Cumbria. I love these Lakes sessions, we usually find amazing amounts and variety of wild food, in a beautiful part of the world.
We’ll take a slow walk through lush green woods, with mixed tree types and habitats, looking for autumnal edibles to meet and learn about. We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll have a good hunt about for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden or local park are edible, nutritious and tasty!
It’s best if you can come by car for this course and location, public transport may come nearby but it’ll be a bit of a walk to the start point of our course. It’s also a Sunday, so options might be very limited out in the sticks. Please contact me about this before booking if you aren’t able to bring your own transport.
Adults £60 | children (age 8-15) £20 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, and quite a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it! I’d say this is not suitable for younger kids as it’s a long way and a long time to concentrate)
Email me to book or for more information
Autumn fruits & fungi foraging course : between Otley & Harrogate, Yorkshire
Sat 12 October | 10:30-16:30ish | £60
Join us for an introduction to autumn greens, seeds, nuts, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ more rural beautiful green spaces, a beautiful spot to spend a day out in nature!
Suitable for beginners and more experienced foragers, we’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders. After the walk we’ll enjoy some wild tasters during or after the walk and we look over our finds.
We’ll have a good look for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! It’s also a great time of year for nuts, seeds and fruits, so we’ll also discuss wild flours, and how to prepare foraged starches and alternative ingredients to best effect. We’ll cover all wild foods we come across, and we’ll taste where we can too!
You’ll probably need your own transport for this one, public transport doesn’t stop very closeby. There’s parking available.
Adults £60 | children (age 5-15) £20 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, with a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Autumn fruits & fungi foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sun 13 Oct | 10:30-15:30ish | £50
Join us for an introduction to autumn greens, seeds, nuts, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is purely focused on teaching, giving maximum time to learning and a more relaxed pace to cover all the information in one day as we’re not stopping to cook this time. Suitable for beginners and more advanced folk, make the most of having me there to show more species and to reinforce our learning. (There may still be some cheeky tasters nonetheless!)
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll have a good look for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! It’s also a great time of year for nuts, seeds and fruits, so we’ll also discuss wild flours, and how to prepare foraged starches and alternative ingredients to best effect. I’ll tell you great recipe ideas and uses for all we’re finding and how to process wild foods for best eating and preservation as well.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £15 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, with a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Autumn fruits & fungi foraging course : north Sheffield, Yorkshire
Sat 19 October | 10:30-16:30ish | £60
Join us for an introduction to autumn greens, seeds, nuts, trees & fungi in one of the wider Sheffield area’s more rural beautiful green spaces.
Suitable for beginners and more experienced foragers, we’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders. After the walk we’ll have some wild tasters during or after our walk as we go over our finds.
We’ll have a good look for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty!
It’s also a great time of year for nuts, seeds and fruits, so we’ll also discuss wild flours, and how to prepare foraged starches and alternative ingredients to best effect. We’ll cover all wild foods we come across, and we’ll taste where we can too!
You’ll probably need your own transport for this one, public transport doesn’t stop very closeby. There’s parking available.
Adults £60 | children (age 5-15) £20 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, with a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Autumn fruits & fungi foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sun 15 Oct | 10:30-15:30ish | £50
Join us for an introduction to autumn greens, seeds, nuts, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is purely focused on teaching, giving maximum time to learning and a more relaxed pace to cover all the information in one day as we’re not stopping to cook this time. Suitable for beginners and more advanced folk, make the most of having me there to show more species and to reinforce our learning. (There may still be some cheeky tasters nonetheless!)
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll have a good look for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! It’s also a great time of year for nuts, seeds and fruits, so we’ll also discuss wild flours, and how to prepare foraged starches and alternative ingredients to best effect. I’ll tell you great recipe ideas and uses for all we’re finding and how to process wild foods for best eating and preservation as well.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £15 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, with a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Fungi-focused foray & foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sat 9 Nov | 10:00-15:30ish | £50
Join us for an introduction to late autumn & early winter fungi, as well as any remaining autumn greens, seeds, nuts, tree goodies in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is purely focused on teaching, giving maximum time to learning and a more relaxed pace to cover all the information in one day as we’re not stopping to cook this time. Suitable for beginners and more advanced folk, make the most of having me there to show more species and to reinforce our learning. (There may still be some cheeky tasters nonetheless!)
Although this will be a more general fungi spotting course, as it’s quite late in the year, we’ll also go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll have a good look for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! It’s also a great time of year for nuts, seeds and fruits, so we’ll also discuss wild flours, and how to prepare foraged starches and alternative ingredients to best effect. I’ll tell you great recipe ideas and uses for all we’re finding and how to process wild foods for best eating and preservation as well.
As it gets dark so early, right at the end we’ll take the opportunity to get the UV torches out and see how our fungi and the surrounding lichens and foliage changes in ‘night mode’!
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £10 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, with a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Fungi-focused foray, UV & foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sun 10 Nov | 10:00-15:30ish | £50
Join us for an introduction to late autumn & early winter fungi, plus any remaining autumn greens, seeds, nuts, trees goodies in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is purely focused on teaching, giving maximum time to learning and a more relaxed pace to cover all the information in one day as we’re not stopping to cook this time. Suitable for beginners and more advanced folk, make the most of having me there to show more species and to reinforce our learning. (There may still be some cheeky tasters nonetheless!)
Although this will be a more general fungi spotting course, as it’s quite late in the year, we’ll also go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll have a good look for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! It’s also a great time of year for nuts, seeds and fruits, so we’ll also discuss wild flours, and how to prepare foraged starches and alternative ingredients to best effect. I’ll tell you great recipe ideas and uses for all we’re finding and how to process wild foods for best eating and preservation as well.
As it gets dark so early, right at the end we’ll take the opportunity to get the UV torches out and see how our fungi and the surrounding lichens and foliage changes in ‘night mode’!
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £15 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, with a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Past events
Spring courses 2024
Spring foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sat 15 April | 9:30-12:00 | £35
Join us for an introduction to spring greens, buds, flowers, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is only 2.5 hours, so it’s aimed at families and absolute beginners wanting a first step to foraging (the rest of my courses are a full day).
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll focus mostly on plants for this course, although we may be lucky enough to spot some spring fungi too, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! We’ll also discuss and learn to identify useful edible trees as well as ones that partner with certain mushrooms.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £35 | children (age 5-15) £5 (email to check suitability for your kids, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Spring foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sat 20 April | 10:30-15:30ish | £50
Join us for an introduction to spring greens, buds, flowers, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is purely focused on teaching, giving maximum time to learning and a more relaxed pace to cover all the information in one day as we’re not stopping to cook this time. Suitable for beginners and more advanced folk, make the most of having me there to show more species and to reinforce our learning. There may still be some cheeky tasters nonetheless!
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll focus mostly on plants for this course, although we may be lucky enough to spot some spring fungi too, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! We’ll also discuss and learn to identify useful edible trees as well as ones that partner with certain mushrooms.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £15 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Coastal seashore & cliff-top foraging course : north Yorkshire
Fri 26 April 2024 | 10:30-16:00 | £50
Join us for an introduction to the edible seashore, including seaweeds, cliff-dwelling plants, a few hedgerow species and we’ll also learn about shellfish, crustaceans & other seafood (though we won’t be harvesting any animals on this course).
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged inland & seashore wonders. You’re bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible and tasty, as well as the incredible nutrition & flavour seaweeds offer us!
There is parking, and there are public transport options available, though this may be tricky if you’re coming a longer distance, so you may wish to consider staying over the night before.
It’s a relatively early start due to the tide times (low tide is at 11:38am) so we’ll be doing the seaweed lesson first.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £20
Email me to book or for more information
Coastal seashore & cliff-top foraging course : Northumberland
Thurs 9 May 2024 | 09:00-15:30 | £60
This is one of my favourite coastal spots and I can’t wait to show you all it has to offer! It will also likely be a small group, being on a Thursday (which is a nice low tide!)
Join us for an introduction to the edible seashore, including seaweeds, cliff-dwelling plants, a few hedgerow species and we’ll also learn about shellfish, crustaceans & other seafood (though we won’t be harvesting any animals on this course).We’ll also enjoy spotting other wildlife in the rockpools and dunes as we go.
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged inland & seashore wonders. You’re bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible and tasty, as well as the incredible nutrition & flavour seaweeds offer us!
There is parking, and there are public transport options available, though this may be tricky if you’re coming a longer distance, so you may wish to consider staying over the night before. Trains don’t stop that close, you’d have to get a cab or bus to get the last distance. We’ll need to start promptly at 09:00 due to the tide times (low tide is at 10:14am) so we’ll be doing the seaweed lesson first, so please allow time for parking and finding us and so forth. There are campsites and all sorts of other accommodation options available, contact me for more specifics if you need to book somewhere to stay the night before. I can suggest some free roadside / layby campervan park up spots too, though they’re not guaranteed of course as they’re ‘first come, first parked’ on the day. If you don’t have your own transport do chat to me first to understand more about what we’re doing on the day.
I plan to make a cuppa in the dunes at the end of the session and we might even spot dolphins out in the sea if we’re lucky, so bring your binoculars if you like!
Adults £60 | children (age 5-15) £20
Email me to book or for more information
Coastal seashore & cliff-top foraging course : north Yorkshire (south)
Sat 11 May 2024 | 11:00-16:00 | £60
Join us just after the full moon for an introduction to the edible seashore, including seaweeds, cliff-dwelling plants, a few hedgerow species and we’ll also learn about shellfish, crustaceans & other seafood (though we won’t be harvesting any animals on this course). We’ll also have a cheeky look for jet and fossils on the beach!
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged inland & seashore wonders. You’re bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible and tasty, as well as the incredible nutrition & flavour seaweeds offer us!
We’re starting quite early on this course, as low tide is only at 11:07, hence the course starting at 9:30 to accommodate this, please allow plenty of travel and parking time as the tide waits for no-one 🙂 This session is an intensive teaching session focused on the learning time. I will also bring some little tasters to enjoy alongside our own packed lunch on the beach!
There is parking, and there are public transport options available, though this may be tricky if you’re coming a longer distance, so in that case you may wish to consider staying over the night before. Low tide is at 13:01 that day.
Adults £60 | children (age 5-15) £20
Email me to book or for more information
Spring foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sun 19 May | 10:30-15:30ish | £50
Join us for an introduction to spring greens, buds, flowers, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is purely focused on teaching, giving maximum time to learning and a more relaxed pace to cover all the information in one day as we’re not stopping to cook this time. Suitable for beginners and more advanced folk, make the most of having me there to show more species and to reinforce our learning. There may still be some cheeky tasters nonetheless!
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll focus mostly on plants for this course, although we may be lucky enough to spot some spring fungi too, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! We’ll also discuss and learn to identify useful edible trees as well as ones that partner with certain mushrooms.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £15 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Spring foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sat 1 June | 10:30-15:30ish | £50
Join us for an introduction to spring greens, buds, flowers, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is purely focused on teaching, giving maximum time to learning and a more relaxed pace to cover all the information in one day as we’re not stopping to cook this time. Suitable for beginners and more advanced folk, make the most of having me there to show more species and to reinforce our learning. There may still be some cheeky tasters nonetheless!
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll focus mostly on plants for this course, although we may be lucky enough to spot some spring fungi too, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! We’ll also discuss and learn to identify useful edible trees as well as ones that partner with certain mushrooms.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £15 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
All Things Seaweed seminar/workshop : British Wild Food Festival – Hawkstone Park Follies, Shropshire
Sat 8 June | 10:30-12:00 | £30 (plus festival entry from £16)
I’m going to be at the first British Wild Food Festival, which is being held at Hawkstone Park Follies, Shropshire, 8 & 9 June 2024. It is the same format as the highly successful Scottish Wild Food Festival (which has been amazing!).
I’m running a 90-min seminar workshop on ‘All Things Seaweed’ (£30) on the Saturday,
(And also doing an ‘Edible & Useful Trees ID’ walk (£20) on the Sunday).
My seaweed session will be an in-depth intro to edible marine algae, the best types, how to ID them, what you can make with them, and all sorts of other vital info coastal foraging and getting to know our wonderful edible seashore. I expect I’ll also talk about saltmarsh greens and seafood too, if possible. I’m bringing trays filled with real seaweeds to show and tell and taste! It went down very well at the Scottish WFF so I’m doing it again at this new festival.
There’s a general festival entry ticket from £16 and then you choose a couple of paid workshops to go to from the huge array of fabulous foragers, wild chefs and very knowledgeable people! There’s lots of free activities on the programme too.
To book either of my BWFF sessions, choose ‘book tickets’, and find my seaweed talk on Saturday or the Tree ID walk on the Sunday (under ‘paid activities’).
Tickets and programme at: www.britishwildfoodfestival.com
(past) British Wild Food Festival | Sun 9 June 2024 | Edible Trees ID foray | Shropshire | £20+entry
Edible & Useful Trees ID foray walk/workshop : British Wild Food Festival – Hawkstone Park Follies, Shropshire
Sun 9 June | 11:00-12:00 | £20 (plus festival entry from £16)
I’m going to be at the first British Wild Food Festival, which is being held at Hawkstone Park Follies, Shropshire, 8 & 9 June 2024. It is the same format as the highly successful Scottish Wild Food Festival (which has been amazing!).
I’m running an ‘Edible & Useful Trees ID’ walk (£20) on the Sunday. We’ll cover key tree species that provide us with things such as food, sap, and other uses, plus we’ll discuss fungi relationships with certain trees too.
(And also doing a 90-min seminar workshop on ‘All Things Seaweed’ (£30) on the Saturday),
There’s a general festival entry ticket from £16 and then you choose a couple of paid workshops to go to from the huge array of fabulous foragers, wild chefs and very knowledgeable people! There’s lots of free activities on the programme too.
To book either of my BWFF sessions, choose ‘book tickets’, and find my seaweed talk on Saturday or the Tree ID walk on the Sunday (under ‘paid activities’).
Tickets and programme at: www.britishwildfoodfestival.com
Coastal, dunes & saltmarsh foraging course : Cumbria (south-west)
Sat 22 June 2024 | 11:00-16:00 | £60
Join us for an introduction to the edible seashore, including saltmarsh greens, tideline, shingle and dune specialists, a few seaweeds and a bit of coastal hedgerow herbs as well, we’ll also discuss fishing, shellfish, crustaceans & other seafood (though we won’t be harvesting any animals on this course).
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged inland & seashore wonders. You’re bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible and tasty, as well as the incredible nutrition & flavour that saltmarsh succulents and estuary seaweeds offer us!
This session is an intensive teaching session focused on the learning time. I will also bring some little tasters to enjoy alongside our own packed lunch on the beach!
There is parking, and there are public transport options available, though this may be tricky if you’re coming a longer distance, so in that case you may wish to consider staying over nearby the night before. We may move between a couple of locations, so having transport for your party is helpful, however we can work something out if you’re using public transport.
Adults £60 | children (age 5-15) £20
Email me to book or for more information
Summer foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sat 25 June | 10:30-15:30 | £60
Join us for an introduction to summer greens, flowers, pods, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces. We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll certainly be focused on plants for this course, although we may be lucky enough to spot some fab fungi too, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible and tasty wild plants!
We’ll also discuss and learn to identify useful edible trees as well as ones that partner with certain mushrooms (either for now or to look for those mushroom on or near those trees later in the year!).
I’ll bring a few wild goodies for you to sample and to hopefully inspire about what wonderful treats we can make with foraged ingredients.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £60 | children (age 5-15) £15
Email me to book or for more information
Eat (and drink!) trees! : edible, useful & fungi-related tree ID workshop : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sun 26 June | 10:30-15:30 | £50
Join us for an introduction to edible & useful trees and all their myriad uses and benefits for the adventurous forager! We’ll be in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces for this workshop.
Tree ID is a vital segment of knowledge for avid wild foodies. Not only can we eat leaves, drink sap, infuse needles and munch on nutritious fruits & nuts, knowing our trees also opens up pathways to more targeted and successful mushroom hunting, as many delicious and sought-after fungi each only partner with or grow certain trees.
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of some of the key British trees (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and we’ll also go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders, from teas and cocktails, to medicine, to food & bushcraft uses.
We’ll also discuss any fungi we meet along the way as well as learning to identify trees that partner with certain desirable mushrooms (either for now or know to look for mushrooms on or near those trees later in the year!) even if some of those trees aren’t edible in themselves.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £10
Email me to book or for more information
Autumn 2023 events
All Things Seaweed : an intro to tasty marine algae and coastal foraging
@ Scottish Wild Food Festival : Tir na nOg, Drymen, Stirlingshire, Scotland
Sat 16 September | 13:45-15:30 | £32.50
I’m delighted to be back teaching at the Scottish Wild Food Festival once again! This year I’ll be running a workshop on all things seaweed – an introduction to edible marine algae and coastal foraging in Scotland – including sample trays, tasting (optional!), lunar rhythms and tides, safety, the best ones for eating, and recipe ideas for getting seaweed, saltmarsh and seashore goodies into your diet.
If you can’t make it in person, this session is due to be recorded for the SWFF digital ticket, which will be a collection of selected talks that you can access from anywhere in the world, on a range of topics from the festival.
My paid workshop ticket @ SWFF
All things seaweed & coastal foraging workshop with Lisa Cutcliffe (Edulis WIld Food)
Sat 16 September | 13:45-15:30 (1hr 45mins) | £32.50 per person
Book via the SWFF website (you will also need a festival entry ticket, see below)
I’m also running a plant & tree ID forage on Sun 17 Sept (see the next item in my calendar!)
Educators don’t get paid by the festival itself, we only earn from attendance on our paid workshops. I hope you can join us!
SWFF festival tickets and prices
Full festival ticket entry: 16 Sept & 17 Sept
Adult (weekend with parking for one vehicle during both days, not overnight) £44
Adult weekend entry £32 | child weekend entry (5-13 years) £6 – there’s also family tickets with and without parking, day tickets and more
Book SWFF tickets direct
Accommodation
Festival attendees stay offsite as there’s only crew camping on site.
All Things Seaweed : an intro to marine algae and coastal foraging
@ Scottish Wild Food Festival : Tir na nOg, Drymen, Stirlingshire, Scotland
Sat 16 September | 13:45-15:30 | £32.50
I’m delighted to be back teaching at the Scottish Wild Food Festival once again! This year I’ll be running a foray looking at edible plants and also trees which are edible, useful and/or have symbiotic relationships with delectable edible fungi.
Knowing a few key trees to target your foraging around and you will find more choice edible fungi, I guarantee it. Tree ID is often a gap in foragers’ knowledge, so this is a fantastic opportunity to learn valuable info I wish someone had told me when I first started mushroom hunting!
My paid workshop ticket @ SWFF
Plant and tree ID & fungi partnerships workshop with Lisa Cutcliffe (Edulis Wild Food)
Sun 17 September | 11:00-12:00 | £21.50 per person
Book via the SWFF website (you will also need a festival entry ticket, see below)
I’m also running a seaweed & coastal foraging workshop on Sat 16 Sept (see the previous item in my events calendar!)
Educators don’t get paid by the festival itself, we only earn from attendance on our paid workshops. I hope you can join us!
SWFF festival tickets and prices
Full festival weekend entry ticket: 16 Sept & 17 Sept
Adult (weekend with parking for one vehicle during both days, not overnight) £44
Adult weekend entry £32 | child weekend entry (5-13 years) £6 – there’s also family tickets with and without parking, day tickets and more
All entry tickets include a whole host of free activities, forays, talks, crafting and wild market stalls to browse, as well as various paid feasts and workshops you can add on to your festival experience
Book SWFF tickets direct
Accommodation
Festival attendees stay offsite as there’s only crew camping on site.
Forest to Fork fungi festival : Kinloch Rannoch, Scotland
28 Sep – 1 Oct 2023 | adult 4 days £250 / child 4 days £125 / adult 1 day £140 / child 1 day £70 / tree ID workshop add-on £20 / £10
We would like to invite you to our 4th Forest to Fork Festival in September 2023. Mycobee Mushrooms is delighted to collaborate with well-known mycologist Attila Fődi and Lisa Cutcliffe of Edulis Wild Food.
Guided forays with Attila
We highly value Attila’s knowledge and kind expertise regarding wild and cultivated mushrooms and medicinal uses. Profits from the event support Attila’s research and study on medicinal mushrooms, especially our favourite Grifola frondosa, hen of the woods.
Attila will be leading several forays within the festival, so expect to learn more than anyone’s head can contain, bring a notebook and prepare to be amazed by fungi! He’s incredibly knowledgeable so what a treat and privilege to have him teaching u all for 4 whole days!
Lisa’s tree ID and fungal relationships workshop
This year we have special guest, Lisa Cutcliffe (Edulis Wild Food), running a tree ID seminar on the day of arrival to the festival. Lisa is a well-known UK foraging instructor and a massive fungi fan. Usually based in Leeds (Yorkshire, England), Lisa spends several weeks up in Scotland every year, touring around studying and enjoying mushrooms, seaweeds and other wonderful wild foods. Fungi were her first love in her foray into foraging, and are still her greatest passion.
Knowing key tree species is a valuable skill for fungi ID, and it’s often something that mushroom nuts overlook in their quest for further mycological knowledge. We’ll go over useful tree species to recognise and examples of fungi they partner with, how to tell apart some of the conifers and broadleaf trees commonly found in Scotland, and to get to know our amazing arboreal neighbours a bit better.
This tree ID and fungal relationships workshop is not included in the festival ticket price, it’s a £20 add-on (£10 for kids) so please book this separately with Lisa, please book directly via email: eduliswildfood@gmail.com
Festival tickets and prices
Full festival ticket Thu 28 Sept – Sun 1 Oct (for all 4 days, guided forays with expert mycologist and food demos)
Adult £250 | child (up to age 14) £125
Day tickets for Fri 29 or Sat 30 Sep (one day, guided forays with expert mycologist and food demos)
Adult £140 | child £70
ADD-ON: Lisa’s tree ID & fungi relations workshop Thu 28 Sept 15:00-16:30
Adult £20 | child (up to age 14) £10
Visit the MycoBee website to book or for more information
www.mycobee.org/attila-fodi-and-forest-to-fork-events
Staying over
Camping is optional : please book this directly with the campsite we’ll be based on: Kilvrecht Campsite, Kinloch Rannoch PH17 2QJ which has an online booking system. Or feel free to book local accommodation of your choice. We will share some food at the demos but please also come prepared with your own main meals.
Fungi foray day : highlands area, Scotland
Sun 1 Oct 2023 | 10:30-16:00 | £50
I’ll be in the highlands on 1 October and I’d like to invite you along for an impromptu forage with me!
I’ll be hanging out somewhere between Inverness and Aviemore, that kind of area – exact venue TBC nearer the time.
If you’ll be in Scotland that weekend, or could be, and would like to sign up for whatever I put on, please email me ASAP and I’ll arrange something if there’s enough interest! Exciting 🙂
The plan would be to meet somewhere stunning and have a relaxed bimble around looking for fungi to learn about, all day. If you can’t usually make it to my Yorkshire courses this is a great opportunity to join me for a foray in gorgeous Scottish landscapes.
I’m up there anyway, let’s make the most of it!
Fungi foray & feast day : Tim Maddams X Lisa Cutcliffe X Dorback Estate : Abernethy, Cairngorms, Highlands, Scotland
Sun 8 October | 09:30-15:30 | £115
Exciting news! Join us for very special collaboration event between myself and chef Tim Maddams, at the beautiful Dorback estate, 5 miles from Nethy Bridge in Abernethy Forest, in the northern half of the Cairngorms National Park.
Fungi Forage and Feast!
This full day experience will see you transported around the magical Dorback estate in the Cairngorms of Scotland, finding and learning all about different types of edible, non-edible and medicinal fungi. Many mushrooms will be seen and lots of different types of fungi too. There will be a stop off along the way for a winter warmer and a bite to eat before more fungi fun in the company of one of the UK’s foremost foragers Lisa Cutcliffe of Edulis Wild Food. The foraying is followed by a fabulous late lunch feast from chef Tim Maddams, we’re in for a right treat!
About Tim
Tim is a chef with decades of experience cooking laid back, seasonal food, he has a passion for foraging and wild places and fungus plays a large part in his interests – and is reflected strongly in his food. Tim will be on hand to host during the day and, of course, cook some delicious food for the feast, served in the breathtaking Fae Bothy.
Tim is perhaps best known for his time at River Cottage, and appearing on the show frequently while he was there, he’s also an avid forager and game chef, creating delicious, crowd-pleasing dishes and delectable drink pairings. We’re going to have so much fun on this one!
About Lisa
Lisa is a wild food specialist and foraging instructor based in Leeds, Yorkshire. She runs courses primarily in the north of England and also loves to travel and forage for wild food all over the UK with her campervan & adventure cats. She works with all types of wild foods but is particularly passionate about fungi, and Scotland is mushroom heaven in autumn. Lisa also lived on only wild food for 3 months recently as part of the Wildbiome Project study, a valuable insight into how feral foods affect our gut microbiome, brain chemistry and wellbeing. She is an avid foodie and loves cooking with the foraged things she gathers, her wild plates are a feast for the eye as well as the belly.
Treats to eat!
After all that fungi finding activity we will retreat to the faboulous Fae Bothy, teetering in the foothills of the Cairngorms, for a feast featuring fungi and much more, cooked by your host, chef Tim Maddams.
Ticket price includes foraging, food and drink. You will need stout footwear, a reasonable level of fitness for slow walking looking at fungi for a wee while, and a friendly willingness to learn and have fun.
Getting there
You’ll probably need your own transport for this one, public transport doesn’t stop very closeby. There’s parking available on site. Accommodation is available on the estate too, if you wanted to stay the night before, as it’s an early start (9:30) – if not there is plenty of other options nearby in Nethy Bridge and surrounding areas, if you’re not already local!
Tickets
Adults £115 | guided forays with Lisa, transport around the estate, refreshments between locations, and a wonderfully wild meal & drinks from chef Tim Maddams
Book your ticket on Eventbrite or for see the listing for more information.
Autumn fruits & fungi foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sun 22 Oct | 10:30-15:30ish | £50
Join us for an introduction to autumn greens, seeds, nuts, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is purely focused on teaching, giving maximum time to learning and a more relaxed pace to cover all the information in one day as we’re not stopping to cook this time. Suitable for beginners and more advanced folk, make the most of having me there to show more species and to reinforce our learning. (There may still be some cheeky tasters nonetheless!)
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll have a good look for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! It’s also a great time of year for nuts, seeds and fruits, so we’ll also discuss wild flours, and how to prepare foraged starches and alternative ingredients to best effect. I’ll tell you great recipe ideas and uses for all we’re finding and how to process wild foods for best eating and preservation as well.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £15 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, with a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Autumn fruits & fungi foraging course : Leeds, Yorkshire
Sun 29 Oct | 10:00-15:30ish | £50
Join us for an introduction to autumn greens, seeds, nuts, trees & fungi in one of Leeds’ beautiful green spaces.
This workshop is purely focused on teaching, giving maximum time to learning and a more relaxed pace to cover all the information in one day as we’re not stopping to cook this time. Suitable for beginners and more advanced folk, make the most of having me there to show more species and to reinforce our learning. (There may still be some cheeky tasters nonetheless!)
We’ll go over robust ID skills and features of edibles (and how to tell them apart from any lookalikes) and go into fascinating folklore, flavours, recipes and uses for foraged wonders.
We’ll have a good look for mushrooms, plus we’ll learn about edible & useful trees and how certain ones partner with particular fungi, plus you’re also bound to discover many of the ‘weeds’ in your garden are edible, nutritious and tasty! It’s also a great time of year for nuts, seeds and fruits, so we’ll also discuss wild flours, and how to prepare foraged starches and alternative ingredients to best effect. I’ll tell you great recipe ideas and uses for all we’re finding and how to process wild foods for best eating and preservation as well.
There is parking, and public transport also stops nearby.
Adults £50 | children (age 5-15) £15 (email to check suitability, it’s a long day for kids, with a bit of walking, a lot of it is down to their interests and personality rather than age as to whether they’ll enjoy it!)
Email me to book or for more information
Future dates
I’ve announced dates up to June 2024 so far. There will be plenty more to come in September right through to November, I’m just finalising them. Assuming the frosts stay away until a bit later 🙂 Then I’ll be stopping courses for the winter, returning in March 2025 (dates will start going up around Janurary/February for that) including Leeds and coastal dates in Yorkshire, Northumberland, North Wales and maybe even Scotland, we shall see!
I don’t have a mailing list but will always publicise new dates on my social media channels when announced, so do follow me! (see my contact page).
Autumn 2024 dates will go up around July/August (usually).
Reviews
Cooking courses
Freelance writer and blogger Jen Chillingsworth at little birdie joined my July ‘forage & cook’ day at the Get Cooking! kitchens in Leeds and reviewed her experiences of the day along with her beautiful photos:
Foraging & wild cooking day – Jen, little birdie
Spring courses
Food writer and photographer Joan Ransley joined my May wild food walk in Leeds and wrote about her experiences of the day for the Yorkshire Post and i-Paper, along with some of her gorgeous photos:
Urban foraging: how to find your dinner in a local park – Joan Ransley
Summer courses
Writer and blogger Dawn Nelson came to my riverside foraging walk through the Winchester water meadows in July 2015 and posted a review of the day, along with her lovely photos:
Foraging with Edulis : wild food – Dawn Nelson
Autumn courses
Photographer Mat Smith writes an account of his first foraging experience on my New Forest foray in September 2015, including some of his beautiful images from the day:
Fungi foray in the New Forest – Mat Smith
What to expect
My scheduled wild food courses are open to all.
The walk itself
The walks are usually a full day’s workshop, and you you needn’t be super-fit, with around 4-5 hours of very slow, easy walking with frequent stops to introduce you to interesting wild edibles & medicinals as we go along, with opportunities to taste things. Most walks are only a mile or so in length over the whole day. If a particular route is longer or more moderate in nature I will specifically state this on the listing. Sometimes we’ll all bring a packed lunch and have a rest to eat on the way round, sometimes we’ll cook our own wild lunch as part of the course.
Foraged tasters & cook-up (on some courses)
Some of my longer courses include an outdoor cook-up at the end (this is reflected the ticket price). For courses that do include a live cook-up or ready-made wild treats that I’ve brought along for you, at the end of the walk we gather round to enjoy some foraged tasters together. We’ll be able to sample some plants and flowers raw as we go along, but the vast majority of wild mushrooms and some other plants should be cooked before eating so we’ll take the opportunity to have cook up of our finds and see what they’re like, along with wild teas, often from plants we collected on the walk, homemade cheeses, chutneys & bread and maybe a wild salad or cake, it changes every time! I’ll also bring my homemade wild pickles, vinegars, syrups and infused booze for you to sample.
This usually takes another hour or so, allowing for chatting and questions and to have a look in my books and to sample other wild concoctions and things I’ve brought along for you try. I ask about dietary requirements as part of booking, I do my best to ensure everyone can enjoy the tasters and any food we make.
Weather
Come prepared for anything the great British weather might throw at us, I never cancel for a bit of rain or cold! We forage in all normal UK weathers. I would only cancel a course if the weather conditions are deemed unsafe rather than just inclement. Suitable clothing for the season is essential, waterproofs/warm clothing for the colder months, suncream/hat etc for the sunny days, and please always come wearing good sturdy footwear to go foraging. I’d recommend wellies or waterproof boots if it’s likely to be muddy or if we’re going to look at seaweeds in the rockpools.
Prices
Prices vary depending on course length, venue and whether or not any food is included. Prices are specified on each listing further up this page. There’s usually a limited number of child and student places on each walk. You can redeem gift vouchers for open courses and you can pay the difference to top up your voucher value on more expensive special events if you like too.
How to book
Please email me at eduliswildfood@gmail.com telling me which course you’d like to book and for how many people and I’ll send you the payment details, payable by bank transfer.
Courses must be paid for in full in advance to secure your booking. For my refund and cancellation polices, have a look at my terms & conditions for foraging courses before booking on.
If you wish to redeem a gift voucher, please let me know this at the time of booking. If the course you wish to book is more than your voucher I’ll send you the payment details for top-up and booking. Any queries just get in touch!
Children
Children are most welcome and I love having them on my walks, their enthusiasm is wonderful and they are fantastic at spotting things!
All children must be accompanied by a parent or other responsible adult and will be in their care throughout the walk. There isn’t a lower age limit (unless specifically stated on the listing, most courses are open to all but very occasionally it’s adults only or not suitable for littlies). I leave it up to parents to judge whether their child can walk for a mile or so (or 3 miles for a couple of the Cumbria courses) over the 4-5 hours of the course and will follow safety instruction. I do sometimes do family foraging sessions which are 2 hours which are very suitable for children.
The terrain is mainly flat for Leeds courses but you might struggle with a pushchair in some locations, so please contact me first if you plan to bring one. A carrier might be more suitable for very young children. For the Cumbria and coastal courses and some others, the terrain can be steeper or more challenging and absolutely isn’t suitable for pushchairs or very young children. I do put this in the course information for the ones it’s relevant to, but if you’d like more detail on what to expect on the day for any particular course I’ve listed on my event calendar, then please do get in touch, I’m happy to tell you whatever I can about the route and plan for the day at that location!
Locations
I run courses all over the UK, predominantly in Yorkshire and Cumbria, also North Wales and Scotland, and sometimes Hampshire and the south coast too. I will also teach wherever I’m invited, even abroad! I do love to travel for foraging.
The exact timings, content and locations for my courses are confirmed on booking (or you can email me any time to ask) and I send out detailed joining instructions the week or two before the day of the course.
Wild food is incredibly seasonal and weather-dependant, so sometimes I may elect to change to a different location a few days before the course so that I will have more to show you, especially on the Leeds courses. This is very unusual but can happen! So I don’t usually specify exact locations when I first post up the course dates on my website as they may change.
Seasonality
I can find something edible to forage all year round, however I prefer to run courses in the months when nature’s larder is most bountiful and varied! I typically run courses March/April to October/November, depending on frosts.
Spring is great for fresh new greens, roots, flowers and tree ID. Crunchy common hogweed shoots, garlicy ramson buds, sweet-and-sour darwin’s barberry flowers and earthy-green nettle tops are abundant. If we’re lucky we may also find some of the first good edible fungi of the year such as st george’s mushrooms, morels and scarlet elf cups! Spring is also a rich time for seaweeds like pepper dulse and kelps before the relentless summer sun de-colours them, as well as gifting us super-low tides for shellfish such as cockles and razorclams (‘spoots’) on the sandy shores and mussels on the rocks.
Summer boasts greens, flowers and also the first fruits start to appear. Colourful cherry-plums, creamy pollen-covered elderflowers and fragrant beach-rose petals abound. With rain comes flushes of warm-loving fungi such as chicken of the woods, chanterelles and summer ceps. A few spring species are already turning to seed for us to enjoy, like wild garlic and alexanders. Saltmarshes on the coastal estuary mudflats are at their most perfect in mid-summer for marsh samphire, sea arrowgrass and other ready-salted succulents for us to sample.
Autumn is the best time for a wealth and variety of fungi and fruits, as well as seeds, roots and foliage, some of which can persist long into the winter, especially if it stays mild. Biennial plants such as burdock and wild carrot with their starchy roots are best harvested in the autumn of their first year. Rosehips, elderberries, hazelnuts, sloes and haws line every hedgerow like bright jewels. Annual seaweeds such as dulse and sea lettuce are fully grown in late summer/early autumn so it’s a great time to harvest those, plus game & shellfish return to the wild foodie’s menu.
Check out my Instagram feed, my Facebook page, and my blog to see what I’m finding right now and what’s coming into season shortly for you to look out for!
Terms and conditions
For further detail about the basis on which I offer my foraging courses, gift vouchers and other services, please see my terms and conditions page.
