Courses

Please join me for a 2-hour fungi (for paper making) collecting adventure followed by an afternoon of hand crafting these wonderful papers yourself. We will be working with 3-4 different fungi to create uniquely coloured and textured A5, A4, and A3 sized paper. These can be used to make the ultimate in environmentally friendly Christmas cards or wrapping paper.
Your papers will be dried over a couple of days in a press and sent to you, or you can take them home on the day with detailed instructions on how to dry them.
A selection of teas and coffee will be available, but please bring a packed lunch and/or food to share.

On these wild food walks participants will be provided with clear information on the foraging basics, while simultaneously looking deeply into the skills required to get the maximum benefit from wild plants. This includes precise tips and guidance for working with the 20-30 specific plants and fungi encountered on location, as well as detailed instruction regarding processes and techniques, for example, salt pickling, vinegar pickling, lacto-fermenting, cordial making, wine and spirit making, dehydrating, fruit leather creation, seasonings, and other preserving and food preparation techniques. In many instances those techniques will be brought to life by tasting the fruits of such labour.

On this wild food walk in Forest Row in East Sussex, participants will be provided with clear information on the foraging basics, while simultaneously looking deeply into the skills required to get the maximum benefit from wild plants. This includes precise tips and guidance for working with the 20-30 specific plants and fungi (when present) encountered on location, as well as detailed instruction regarding processes and techniques, for example, salt pickling, vinegar pickling, lacto-fermenting, cordial making, wine and spirit making, dehydrating, fruit leather creation, seasonings, and other preserving and food preparation techniques. In many instances those techniques will be brought to life by tasting the fruits of such labour.

On these wild food walks of London 's Hampstead Heath, participants will be provided with clear information on the foraging basics, while simultaneously looking deeply into the skills required to get the maximum benefit from wild plants. This includes precise tips and guidance for working with the 20-30 specific plants and fungi encountered on location, as well as detailed instruction regarding processes and techniques, for example, salt pickling, vinegar pickling, lacto-fermenting, cordial making, wine and spirit making, dehydrating, fruit leather creation, seasonings, and other preserving and food preparation techniques. In many instances those techniques will be brought to life by tasting the fruits of such labour.

We forage in and around woodland, field, hedgerow, riverside, salt marsh, and by the sea, for the best wild ingredients the season has to offer. Utilising our natural capacity to sensually engage with the world, we hone our sense of sight, touch, and taste to safely identify and gather wild plants, seaweeds and fungi, ever mindful of best sustainable harvesting practices, as well as potential unseen hazards. Lunch and dinner are both delicious 3-course wild food events, the first inside, and the second on the beach over 3 open fires. Throughout the day a wealth of unique wild food preparations including biscuits, candied items, pickles, drinks, and cocktail ingredients will be shared, including detailed instructions on how to prepare them.

Safely discover fungi. Suitable for beginner or intermediate level fungi participants. Includes more advanced cooking/preservation methods.

Drawing on my 30-year experience of identifying and gathering fungi, the aim is to provide a general introduction to seasonally available fungi, how to harvest them sustainably and how to utilize them as food and medicine, as well as how to recognise and avoid poisonous species. I will also introduce, with hands-on examples in some cases, how to use fungi for other purposes such as painting, dyeing, ink making, paper making. You will taste a number of different mushroom products during the day, for example, candied fungi, pickled fungi, lacto-fermented fungi, liquid mushroom seasoning, mushroom cookies etc.

Learn to identify + use up to 50+ fungi for food and medicine. Enjoy lots of unique fungi creations for you to taste, and a 3 course feast!