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Learning Opportunities
Now, more than ever, the world needs foragers.
Would you like to spend your time exploring wild spaces?
Would you like to learn about finding, collecting, storing and processing wild plants?
Would you like to run your own food enterprise, working with the rhythms of the earth?
Foragers are naturally beneficial to the land. Carrying seeds and roots with them as they go, they naturally revitalise and enhance the earth as they develop their relationship with it. They are preservers of traditional knowledge, passing vital practices from generation to generation.
Whether or not you see yourself as an entrepreneur you have what it takes to cultivate wild spaces, nurture wild plants and deepen your relationship with the plant, mushroom and animal kingdoms. We all have what it takes to do that. We have all descended from humans that were deeply connected to and acutely aware of their wider landscape. We evolved in relation to the land and we are “hard-wired” to switch back to the land at the drop of a hat. Most of us just need a little support and guidance as we set off down that path.
Engaging with and cultivating wild plants is the most efficient and economical way of producing resilient and diverse food systems. Food systems that have stood the test of time. Foods that still stand in spite of ongoing attempts to eradicate them.
Nature is a low-cost operator. The plants, the seeds, the soil, the water - it’s all there already; all that is required is you.
Every habitat has the potential to be an abundant foodscape at the same time as growing into a rich and supportive habitat for creatures - insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, riparian and marine creatures. You can help steward the land around you, enhancing and revitalising the environment while you produce food for yourself and others.
The food production space has opened up in recent years and now more than ever people are needed to carefully tend to and care for the land. If you are interested in learning about your landscape and how to nourish it and yourself, get in touch with us.
We are offering one-to-one support to start up your own foraging branch. Maybe you will be providing for yourself, your family, your community, your county, your country. We will guide you through the whole process.
One to one mentorships are based in your area and can be arranged starting from a one-off basis.
In your area means that we will come to your location and guide you through the process of finding and gathering food as close to your home as possible.
After just one day you will have knowledge that will last a lifetime, growing exponentially as you seek to increase and enrich what you already know.
We are also offering mentorships for periods of one month and for the whole season (10 out of 12 calendar months: excluding January and February).
You can start your mentorship any time of the year.
CURRICULUM
Our curriculum works in the same way, whether you choose mentorship for one day, one month, or a whole season.
If you enrol for one day, you will likely learn a handful of plants and the best practices for engaging with them. The more time you spend with us, the more plants you will learn, the more processes you will discover and the deeper your knowledge will become.
Here is what you’ll learn with us:
-Finding the right sites to forage
-Acquiring permission
-Identification of edible and poisonous species
-Techniques in cultivation of wild species (to include harvest techniques and reproductive support for each species, this does not necessarily entail domestication as in arable farming or permaculture)
-Mapping and recording
-Processing
-Storage
-Preservation
-Packaging and distribution
TUITION
€450/day
One full day (8 hours) of one to one mentorship commencing at a suitable location close to you
Digital or paper map including the plants and habitats discovered
PDF or paper documentation of the GPS locations of the plants and habitats discovered
Fees are payable prior to the commencement of the course.
CONSIDERATIONS
Space is limited to three mentees per month.
We operate a rolling schedule of four openings per week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. These will be filled on a first-come first-served basis.
We welcome people of all backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, genders, shapes and sizes. Just like the land itself, the foraging community thrives in all its diversity.
The work is (obviously) largely based outside. Please be prepared and bring your own waterproof clothing and shoes/boots and a change of clothes. Also be sure to bring sufficient food and water to get you through the day. The work can be tiring with plenty of walking, bending and lifting so be prepared for an exhilarated and rewarded feeling at the end of the day.
Please also be sure to bring your own camera or notebook if you wish to take further notes than those we will provide in retrospect of the course.