The Woodland Ways Spring Foraging Course is an immersive exploration of the edible, medicinal, and practical plants that flourish across the British landscape during the most abundant season of the year. Delivered by highly qualified instructors with deep and varied knowledge, this course offers far more than plant identification—it provides a cultivated understanding of how humans have interacted with the land for generations.
Spring is a time of emergence, energy, and renewal. On this carefully paced day, you will be guided through woodlands and natural spaces where the year’s first shoots, leaves, and flowers offer exceptional nutritional and practical value. The course is designed to sharpen observation, deepen awareness, and build genuine confidence in recognising and responsibly using wild plants.
Instruction draws on extensive professional experience and lived practice, exploring each plant as a complete resource. Edibility, medicinal value, seasonal timing, historical use, and modern application are all considered. Where appropriate, instructors will share preparation techniques, processing methods, and refined recipe ideas—bridging traditional knowledge with contemporary relevance.
The experience is intentionally unhurried, allowing time for thoughtful discussion, note‑taking, photography, and questions. The aim is to foster understanding rather than memorisation, so that learning endures long after the day concludes.
This course runs in Derbyshire and Oxfordshire
OPTION 1:
Buy this course as a gift voucher for someone else. Valid for 18 months.
BUY GIFT VOUCHER
OPTION 2:
Choose the number of places, pay a deposit now and the balance 8 weeks before the course starts or pay in full now.
Select from the dates below.
The Woodland Ways Spring Foraging Course is an immersive exploration of the edible, medicinal, and practical plants that flourish across the British landscape during the most abundant season of the year. Delivered by highly qualified instructors with deep and varied knowledge, this course offers far more than plant identification—it provides a cultivated understanding of how humans have interacted with the land for generations.
Spring is a time of emergence, energy, and renewal. On this carefully paced day, you will be guided through woodlands and natural spaces where the year’s first shoots, leaves, and flowers offer exceptional nutritional and practical value. The course is designed to sharpen observation, deepen awareness, and build genuine confidence in recognising and responsibly using wild plants.
Instruction draws on extensive professional experience and lived practice, exploring each plant as a complete resource. Edibility, medicinal value, seasonal timing, historical use, and modern application are all considered. Where appropriate, instructors will share preparation techniques, processing methods, and refined recipe ideas—bridging traditional knowledge with contemporary relevance.
The experience is intentionally unhurried, allowing time for thoughtful discussion, note‑taking, photography, and questions. The aim is to foster understanding rather than memorisation, so that learning endures long after the day concludes.
Spring Foraging Course
Spring Foraging Course
Spring Foraging Course
Spring Foraging Course
Spring Foraging Course
Spring Foraging Course
Arrival & Ethical Foundations
On arrival at the car park, you will be welcomed by your instructors and introduced to the day’s focus. Before entering the landscape, we touch on the ethical and legal framework for foraging within the UK, ensuring clarity, responsibility, and confidence from the outset.
We explore sustainability, selective harvesting, and respect for both land and landowners. These principles underpin all Woodland Ways foraging instruction and ensure that you leave with not only knowledge, but a clear sense of stewardship.
Morning: Guided Forage & Insight
With your bags on backs and foraging bags and baskets in hand, we begin our walk into the woodland. Routes are selected dynamically according to seasonal conditions and plant abundance, allowing instructors to respond organically to what the land is offering on the day.
Throughout the morning, the group pauses regularly to examine a wide range of spring plants and trees. While edible and medicinal species form the primary focus, instruction extends well beyond food alone.
You will also explore how plants can be used for: - Natural firelighting and tinder - Shelter and insulation materials - Cordage and bindings - Basketry, tools, and simple functional crafts
Instructors demonstrate best practice for sustainable harvesting, explaining which parts of a plant may be taken, appropriate quantities, and methods that allow continued growth. Where suitable, you will be invited to taste plants directly from the source, developing sensory recognition alongside visual identification.
This time encourages a slower, more attentive way of moving through the landscape—learning to read subtle indicators, seasonal cues, and ecological relationships that transform woodland walks into meaningful engagement.
Afternoon: From Landscape to Table
In the afternoon, we arrive at camp with baskets and bags containing carefully selected seasonal ingredients. The focus now shifts from gathering to refinement—transforming wild resources into a nourishing and delicious meal.
You will be guided to the game preparation area, where instructors demonstrate how to remove meat from a game bird. This forms the centrepiece of the lunch, with all dietary requirements fully catered for when notified at the time of booking.
Meal preparation is a communal and hands‑on experience, introducing you to the principles of campfire cookery. Using cast iron Dutch ovens over an open fire, alongside other traditional techniques, you will learn how controlled heat, timing, and simple methods can elevate flavour and texture.
This final session brings the course together with a look at resources to consider and a deeper discussion into the law—connecting ethical foraging, botanical understanding, and skilled preparation into a deeply satisfying conclusion.
A Transformative Experience
The Spring Foraging Course is designed to be engaging, informative, and quietly transformative. It is suitable for complete beginners as well as those seeking to refine existing knowledge under expert guidance.
Participants consistently leave with increased confidence, sharpened awareness, and a renewed appreciation for the generosity and complexity of the natural world. Many find that their relationship with the landscape changes permanently—paths once walked without thought now rich with meaning and possibility.
This course offers a sophisticated seasonal introduction to foraging and forms a natural progression within the Woodland Ways training pathway.
