Introduction to Foraging Course, Northallerton

Children under 12 come free. Well-behaved dogs on a lead are also more than welcome.

What to expect

We will take a two and a half-hour walk (covering about two miles) around the countryside of a private farm estate, stopping regularly to discuss (and where possible, eat!) the many edible goodies we find along the way, whether that be plants, fruits, nuts or mushrooms! What we’ll find depends on the time of year. The route is mostly flat and we’ll go at a steady pace.

Although the main focus will be foraging from the perspective of wild food, we will also touch upon what can be foraged for non-food uses, such as medicinal purposes, or "bushcraft" uses like finding a natural plaster in the wild or making your own string!

What you’ll learn

This course will cover the best ways to start and progress through the early stages of your foraging journey, in order to best maximise your learning and development. The course will cover:

• Finding and discussing over 20 species common across the UK that have food, medicinal and/or bushcraft purposes.
• How to identify the plants, flowers, fruits and mushrooms we come across.
• Foraging laws and principles to ensure you forage safely and responsibly.
• Information about poisonous species to avoid, and how to forage in a way that will ensure you always stay safe and can forage in a way that is fun and enjoyable.

Making foraging fun and safe

Foraging is fun, fascinating and fruitful (literally!) and when done properly, you have nothing to fear. It’s important to realise however that foraging can be dangerous IF you approach it with recklessness and without the respect nature deserves. My course will aim to show you exactly how foraging is fun, fascinating and fruitful so that you can get your foraging journey off to the most enjoyable start, but also how to ensure you forage in a way that keeps you safe.

Login to nature

The course perhaps obviously has foraging at its heart, but will also aim to immerse you in nature in general. The wild food growing out there on your doorstep, in towns, cities, and in the countryside, is all part of a wider ecosystem which in turn is part of nature as a whole, and I like to approach and introduce people to foraging with this in mind. You will therefore go away from my foraging course not only learning about foraging, but also a little more about nature in general.

Meeting Point and Parking

For this course, we’ll meet at the top of a farm lane where you can also park. The best postcode to get you to the general area is DL7 9EW – though please note following this postcode on Sat Navs or Google Maps won’t take you to the exact meeting and parking spot, so please use below Google Maps “dropped pin” location instead if you can:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3Sy3mXncwZfqsbD19?g_st=ic

As well as the “dropped pin” location link above, I will also be outside on the roadside by the entrance to this lane from at least 9:45AM, to help you spot it!