Description
A guided foray exploring the delicious, healthy and surprising array of edible plants and fungi available in early Spring, with a wild food tasting picnic in the forest afterwards.
This event is timed to allow a double-header wild weekend in Galloway with low spring tide coastal foraging course on Saturday 19th March. The coastal foraging needs to be booked separately – see here to book 19th March event.

Early spring preserves
March is a thrilling time for foragers, with the sap rising in trees and springs shoots at their vibrant best. Highlights of the day will include birch tapping, spring fungi, early shoots, an introduction to fermenting wild greens. This is a great time of year to tune in to wild food resources for the year ahead. Both novices and experienced foragers looking to increase their repertoire will enjoy this event.
Family friendly – 1.5 miles easy walking for all ages. As with all Galloway Wild Foods events, this walk is guided by Mark Williams who has been teaching about foraging for over 25 years.
Read/watch/listen to reviews/films/radio programmes featuring Mark
Time/Date: Sunday, 20th March 2022, 1pm – 5.00pm
Meeting Place: Gatehouse of Fleet, Galloway, SW Scotland. Full directions will be emailed to ticket holders in the week before the event.
Expect: Gentle walking covering less than 1 mile in 3 hours on well made paths, occasionally off-piste (which can be wet and muddy). The weather can be challenging at this time of year!
Learn:
- Early Spring hedgerow plants and fungi (usually at least 30 species) – identification, poisonous lookalikes, sustainable harvesting, tips on how to cook and preserve them
- How to sustainably tap birch and sycamore trees, and what to do with your sap
- Follklore/traditional uses
- Modern gourmet, medicin
al, craft and nutritional uses of wild plants and fungi - Discussion of the wider politics around foraging and food
- When time and weather allow, we lay out and label our finds to serve as a souvenir and aide-memoire of the afternoon’s discoveries.
Covid 19 Policy: Please see here for the latest GWF policy around events, social distancing and what happens in the event of cancellation due to C19 .
Eat/drink: I think it is important to bring the wild foods we encounter to life by not just talking about them, but by eating and drinking them as we learn about them, so I come with a hefty bag of lovingly prepared treats and tasters to share throughout the walk. These are not only tasty treats, but serve to illustrate how to uses the wild foods we are exploring. This has become more difficult to do since covid, but I still bring some carefully considered foraged tipples & tasters that can be safely shared, and a wild food tasting picnic to enjoy in the forest afterwards. All dietary requirements can be catered for, and these can be noted when booking.
Bring: Stout footwear, waterproofs, water. Your learning and enjoyment may also benefit from bringing camera, notebook, field guide (plants), small basket/cloth bag.
Places are limited and events usually sell out fast – booking is essential.
Gift vouchers are available here
If you already have a gift voucher it can be used to pay for this event (in whole or in part) at the checkout.