Wild Food Foraging in Dorset
Sprouting up from forest floors and ripening in hedgerows, nature’s larder is full of wild delights. Once the realm of adventurous chefs looking to add some feral flair to their dishes, foraging is now a perennial pastime and popular holiday activity. Join us for a tour of some of the best foraging spots in Dorset and meet some of the county’s most accomplished foragers who are keen to impart their knowledge.
Five foraging courses set in the beautiful Dorset countryside…
Coastal and kayak foraging are two of the ways the foragers of Fore Adventure will introduce you to a myriad of wild ingredients. As you delve deeper into this fascinating world, you’ll receive all the encouragement you need to understand and demystify the relationship between the environment and the food on your plate. From the bracing sea air of the Dorset shoreline to the dappled shade of forest glades, you’ll be taught the bushcraft skills required to transform your foraging finds into a wild banquet. Returning the connection between the countryside and our food remains at the core of these wild adventures. There are various courses to choose from, from kayak foraging to wild feasting jamborees all led by experienced foragers, ethnobotanists, ecologists and bushcraft instructors. Fore Adventure is a WISE wildlife safe accredited operator, and all foraging is done sustainably and sensitively. What a wonderful way to discover the Dorset outdoors.
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Also on hand to guide you along the seashore, meadows and hedgerows to unlock mother nature’s larder is the foraging team at River Cottage. Wild food expert John Wright will take you on a hedgerow expedition in search of some of the more exotic and lesser-known edible species and taste sensations. Follow John along the stunning Jurassic Coast netting shellfish, cockles and crabs while foraging shoreline plants such as sea spinach, samphire, sea lettuce, dulse, and Alexanders, all explained and elucidated in his book The Edible Seashore. River Cottage’s mushroom foraging days are the stuff of legend, an opportunity to explore the local woodland glades and rolling fields during the fungi season. Hone your mushroom identification skills and gather your bounty before sitting down to a delicious two course forager’s lunch prepared by one of the cottage’s trail-blazing chefs. Once you’ve enjoyed your midday banquet, you’ll be invited to embark on John’s mushroom masterclass accompanied by some exciting wild cooking demonstrations. This Dorset foraging course is a must for all those keen to explore the magical world of edible fungi – not to be missed.
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The iconic shingle sweep of Chesil Beach is the destination for our next foraging foray under the expert tutorage of wild food connoisseur Mat Follas. Allow your confidence to surge as you learn how to pick out succulent edible seaweeds and shoreside plants before following the hedgerows and rummaging the meadows to fill your baskets to the brim with Dorset’s natural bounty. All this before you sit down with your fellow foragers for a rustic lunch inspired by the seasons. You’ll also have the opportunity to taste some gins and liqueurs while gaining insight from Mat into ways of enjoying and preserving wild berries – you even get to sample his award-winning British Mure Blackberry liqueur. The gin making course runs alongside the wild foraging course, an added extra for all those who’d love to learn how to create their own wild tipples.
Founded by bushcraft specialist John Boe, Wildway Bushcraft offers a Level 3 NCFE accredited foraging course amongst its many other outdoor survival learning experiences. You can expect to learn all about edible and medicinal plants, while also building knowledge of plants and foliage for bushcraft. The course aims to introduce you to a breadth of woodland resources and fill you with the confidence to set forth on your wild adventures. As well as an introduction to wild and medicinal edibles, the course embraces other such topics as practical uses for trees and plants, foraging law in the UK, foraging best practice, toxic and poisonous species and useful foraging publications. You’ll learn how to brew teas using woodland plants and understand the best places to go in search of wild foods that can be used in your meals. You’ll also be guided through the seasonal changes and what delicious delicacies sprout up during various stages of the foraging calendar, including nuts, fruits, berries, and those essential starchy carbs. No previous experience is necessary.
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Robin Harford is one of the region’s leading wild food authorities and carries with him a wealth of knowledge. His Dorset Foraging Courses and guided walks are perennially popular having established himself on the wild food scene for well over a decade, his courses having been voted number one in the country by BBC Countryfile. Robin invites you to join him on his “edible journey” along enchanting Dorset hedgerows, into secret woodland realms and wild spaces where you’ll unlock nature’s wonderous larder while connecting with the rhythms and cycles of the natural world. Immerse yourselves in the preparation and cooking of wild plants, learn about their healing properties and how to forage sustainably, and listen to some of the stories and folklore that surround this ancient relationship. All you’ll need to bring are some wellington or hiking boots, waterproofs, hats, sunscreen, and a bottle of water. You might also want to bring along a camera, a pencil and notepad too.
Discover the glorious Dorset countryside when you book a foraging day – a chance to go wild about food.
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