Seasonal foraging walks – what to expect

I have hosted four foraging walks with Totally Wild UK, one in March, two in June and one in November so I have a good feel now for what’s available at different times of the year.

This is how it normally goes:

The forager starts with an introduction about some of the guidelines around foraging and the law, finding out where we’re at with foraging and what we’re most keen to learn.

We then go on a walk for 3-4 hours, but it is quite slow paced as we pause often to learn about a new plant. The time flies by! The forager from Totally Wild UK also has some pre-made samples along the way that we get to try. This really helps to bring the edible uses the forager describes to life! Getting to taste a sample of dandelion root coffee encouraged me to make it at home (you can also buy it from the Totally Wild online shop!)

Here’s a little video I made with clips from the March foraging walk at Fernhill Farm:

You can also watch this film made for Fernhill Farm of their spring farm open day which features the foraging walk I organised.

(This spring foraging walk was actually only 1hr long so just imagine what you can get through with 3-4 hours!)

You can ask the forager any questions you have along the way. They will talk through poisonous plants as well as the edible ones, where to look for the plants, e.g. on particular trees, during certain seasons, what part of the plant can be used, how to cook with them, how to use them as treatments in some cases, and so on. They will also sometimes mention stories, history and mythology connected to a plant.

I hope that gives some insight into what a foraging walk with Wild Folk and Totally Wild UK looks like. It’s packed full with wonderful things to learn about plants and how we can use them more in our day to day lives. Even just learning names of things we weren’t aware of before can help us feel more connected and appreciative of them.

You can book onto a foraging walk on the events page here.

There are also different types of events – on some there is a chance to cook some of the found wild edibles on a fire, or to enjoy a pre-prepared 3-course lunch with wild ingredients incorporated.