Join us for a hands-on day exploring gathering and cooking the first edible plants of the season on our Spring Foraging Course. Step into the freshness of spring, as our instructors guide you through field, woodland and hedgerow. They will guide you how to confidently identify, harvest and best use early spring plants in a sustainable and delicious ways.
In the afternoon, the focus shifts to food. As a group, we prepare and cook a seasonal meal using the plants we’ve gathered, sharing a delicious wild-inspired meal, celebrating the flavours of early spring and the simple joy of eating food you’ve gathered yourself.
All of our courses are available as 24 month gift vouchers which can be purchased here.
Timings: 9.30am to 5.00pm
Aged: 18 and above.
Location: South London Woods – CR3. Our South Wales Woodland, in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park can also be booked for private courses.
Course Size: 16 maximum
Spring Foraging Course in Detail
Our Spring Foraging Course focuses on the first edible and medicinal plants to emerge after winter. This is a time of fresh shoots, young leaves and nutrient-rich greens, often at their most tender and flavourful.
The day begins with a guided walk through hedgerows, woodland edges and open clearings in the British countryside. You’ll learn how to confidently identify early spring plants, distinguish them from poisonous lookalikes, and understand their traditional and practical uses. We’ll also explore the folklore, history and bushcraft applications of the species we encounter. Drawing on the many years of foraging experience of our instructing team.
There is plenty of time to ask questions, take notes and photograph key identification features. The pace is steady and accessible, allowing you to properly absorb the knowledge shared by our experienced instructors.
Throughout the walk you’ll be shown how to harvest sustainably and responsibly. You’ll also learn how to prepare each ingredient correctly, with the opportunity to taste some plants raw to understand their flavour and characteristics.
The walk then leads you to our woodland base camp, where the focus shifts to food. Using the plants we’ve gathered, you’ll learn a range of campfire cooking techniques before working together to prepare a shared seasonal two course meal. There is also an optional opportunity to prepare and cook wild game (either small mammal or game bird). All dietary requirements can be catered for, please let us know at the time of booking.
We sit down together to enjoy the meal you’ve helped create, a celebration of early spring ingredients and practical wild food skills.
No prior experience is needed and no specialist kit is required. A reasonable level of fitness is helpful, as the walk takes place on public footpaths and within private woodland. The pace is relaxed rather than strenuous.
We recommend bringing a light lunch or snacks, as the main meal is served mid-afternoon.
We run foraging courses throughout the year, allowing you to experience how edible wild plants change with the seasons; from the first spring greens to the abundance of summer and autumn.
Spring Foraging Course, Late Spring Foraging Course, Autumn Foraging Course, Autumn Foraging and Preserving Weekend and Wild Alcohol & Foraging Workshop.
A full kit list can be found here.
Frequently Asked Questions
With our careful step by step ID this is very unlikely. But if you do: do not worry, we will find it and pull it out of the mix. EVERY SINGLE individual leaf/flower plant part is checked over by an expert before you process or eat them.
Yes, we have £5 million public liability insurance through AIM, Activities Insurance Mutual. We only forage on private land where we have the landowners permission to pick.
Not at all, many of our course participants come knowing very little about wild plants. You’ll learn even more, than those with some background knowledge! The first learning is always the steepest curve.
No, but being comfortable standing for periods is useful, or bring a small very lightweight folding stool. The start of the day is mainly teaching and learning and gathering, so you’ll be on your feet but not walking much. There is a walk across to the woodland site, we take this slowly and stop at plants of interest along the way. It’s about 2km.
Yes, much of our two course seven dish mid afternoon meal will be made up of the foraged greens and flowers that we have gathered. A few additional ingredients will be provided.
A full kit list of all the items you need to bring with you can be found here.
In the main camp, we have a covered area that keeps out about 90% of the rain. Plants do not hide from the rain so they are still able to be gathered whatever the weather.
If the weather conditions are unsafe, this is very unusual you will be issued a 24 month voucher to rebook with us.
If you aren’t a fan of dealing with whatever the British weather may throw at you we have a flexi booking option for just £15 per person. This allows you to change your course date up to 24 hours before the course starts. For more info see here
You will have access to two different loos, depending where we are at the time. At the meeting point where we are based for the morning there is one within a building. There is also a compositing loo with a separate urinal (for those that use them) in the woodlands.
No, we do accept under 18’s on several of our courses and have family specific ones but not on our foraging courses. Due to limited research being done on wild foods and developing bodies.
You are of course more than welcome. We do ask that you contact us before booking to discuss what your limitations are. As the ground through the woods and around our foraging areas is by its very nature uneven. Therefore, we cannot accommodate absolutly all mobility levels, but we can accommodate the vast majority. So please give us a call and we will work with you to try to ensure you can join us.
Penny G. –
Excellent course, meticulously well prepared. Lots of personal interaction with the instructor who made every effort to meet the needs of every participant. Relaxed, informal style. Hugely enjoyable whilst informative and rewarding.
Antionette B. –
Would HIGHLY recommend the spring foraging course!!! Lizzy was incredibly knowledgeable and engaging. It exceeded all my expectations and I CAN NOT WAIT to attend the Autumn foraging course 😋 Excellent value for money 😃
Claire G. –
I attended the Spring foraging course with Lizzie and team and had a fabulous day. We spent the morning looking and learning not only what we can eat, but also what we can’t- with detailed information and hands on the plants delivered in beautiful surroundings at a relaxed pace.
A beautiful walk to the woods would have been lovely in itself, but with Lizzie’s knowledge and passion giving us a history of the landscape from the flint in the ground to the current status of the valley and pointing out so may things along the way, it became an experience in itself.
On reaching camp in the woods, carpeted with bluebells and the sun shining, all aspects of safety and covid precautions were explained and we got to prepping the food. Taken step by step through the process of preparing pigeon, and the stuff we had collected, everything was laid out and we were cooking over the fire with Lizzie conducting and guiding us. (All dietary preferences were embraced an accommodated and this was optional)
The two course meal we made following the recipes was absolutely delicious, we ate like kings with the birds singing and the bluebells swaying in the sun – just lovely. The easter eggs we found on our forage made a nice dessert and were a thoughtful touch.
Then a comprehensive look at reading material available with recommendations, the law around foraging and other aspects and the day had flown and it was time to go. As we walked back, again Lizzie took time to point things out, where rabbits and deer had been, the tiniest details that told the story of the woods were shared along with the plants and trees and everything in between.
If you are thinking you will learn a bit about foraging and that’s it, think again – yes we learned all about every plant we looked at, similar plants that were not safe to eat, the properties and uses both for eating and also medicinal uses – but that was just a part of it. We learned about the laws around foraging, carrying associated items and also what you can and can’t do, as well as where you can and can’t do it. We learned and got hands on with how to prepare a bird, different methods of cooking over a fire using a dutch oven and so much more about the landscape, history, flora and fauna of the area and a bit of tracking thrown in, as well as safely being outdoors and so, so may other things. You don’t get just some teaching, you are taken on a journey to experience the outdoors and nature and a depth and breadth of knowledge that the title if the course belies, but I suppose all that wouldn’t fit on the ad!
Lizzie told us we would leave seeing the world differently, and she was spot on. I have been on shorter sessions on foraging previously here and there, and forgotten half of what I was shown before I got home – but a few days after this course, a short walk I had done so many times before on my way to work, and also visiting local woods revealed almost every plant we used, that I had never even noticed before, and I could identify all of them with confidence. If you were walking by and saw me on my hands and knees looking at a tiny patch of ground ivy, yes that was me!
A wonderful day in the company of a knowledgeable and passionate guide and teacher, deilvered with patience and humour, it exceeded expectations and instilled lifelong skills and confidence in me and I can not wait for the autumn sessions and have signed up for another course in between! Thank you, Lizzie and team x
Joshua P. –
Great day on the foraging course, learnt a lot and made some great food from what we foraged.
Ben R –
Thanks Lizzy for a brilliant day on your foraging course! It was very well presented, your experience and enthusiasm really make it enjoyable with loads of usable knowledge and skills for us to practise at home 😁👌🏻the food was amazing and I will never look at nettles the same way again, thank you 👍🏻
Robin C –
Spent an incredibly interesting and inspiring day during the spring foraging course. Lizzy is a very knowledgeable teacher and has a good feeling about how much new information foraging newbies can process in a day. It was a good mix of information, hands on work, soaking up nature and eating delicious fresh food. I can’t wait to be back for another course. Thanks Lizzy again for the great experience and all the knowledge.
L. Mus –
A really enjoyable day on the Spring foraging course. We learnt so much picking, preparing, cooking then eating our foraged goodies. The locations were set up expertly making the day flow perfectly. An extra Bonus was that the woods were covered in bluebells. I would recommend this course.
Rowan S. –
Enjoyed a great weekend in the Brecon Beacons on one of the spring foraging courses a few weeks ago! We foraged a few plants around the woods, as well as learning to identify some of the similar poisonous plants. Back at the camp we learnt a quick way to prepare a pigeon and enjoyed a variety of meals cooked with the plants we’d foraged.
It’s certainly true that you won’t be able to go on a walk afterwards without spotting the different plants!
Ann –
I was on Sunday’s spring foraging course and I THOROUGHLY enjoyed it, thank you very much!!!! I REALLY enjoyed the sautéed greens!
I hope to see you again for the autumn foraging course 😊
Yuming C –
finally I have booked in what I was always wanted to do. Lizzy is very generous in sharing details she acknowledged, she speaks what she knows and be honest with what doesn’t, this indicate a responsible attitude to public.
When you start learning to identify plants, they are no longer strangers. Walking along the road feels like you can always encounter familiar friends. Squatting down to greet them and learning to distinguish three-cornered leek from wild garlic and Hesperis brings me much joy. A day in London no longer feels gloomy due to cloudy and rainy weather. I started noticing whether “the oak before the ash.” As a foreigner, these British plants and idioms are quite interesting. Walking in nature is a completely different experience than before, and staying in the UK no longer feels the same. It’s rewarding to learn from experienced and responsible sharers like Lizzy. Although I haven’t attended other foraging courses, I know one is enough, and there’s no need to be distracted by looking elsewhere. If you are interested in this course, I highly recommend signing up.