Dive into two days of autumn foraging and preserving in native woodlands. With expert guidance, you’ll focus on seasonal berries and fruits, learning how to identify, harvest, and preserve them safely. Practical sessions include campfire cooking and hands-on preserving techniques, leaving you with meals and preserves you’ve made yourself. By the end, you’ll take home new skills, recipes, and inspiration to continue at home.
Your two-day adventure begins with a guided foraging walk through a variety of habitats, including woodlands, hedgerows, and open grassy areas. You’ll learn to recognise edible, poisonous, and medicinal plants, with guidance on folklore, history, and traditional uses. Plenty of time is given for questions, note-taking, and photography.
Once you’ve gathered your harvest, you’ll return to the woodland base to explore preserving techniques. Working as a team you'll be guided through making your own preserves including chutneys, jellies, fruit butters, and syrups. Cooking over a campfire will be integrated into the meals, allowing you to enjoy freshly prepared wild food as part of the group experience.
On the second day, the focus shifts to consolidating your skills and taking your preserves home. You’ll learn practical tips for storage and recipe adaptations, as well as ways to safely incorporate foraged fruits into everyday meals. By the end, you’ll leave confident in both identification and preservation of autumn produce, and with lots of jars of your own preserves to take away.
South London Woods are situated on the Surrey-Croydon boundary, within a lush greenbelt just south of London. The area features a mix of chalk downland, hazel coppice, and ancient plantations, offering a rich variety of habitats for autumn foraging. Easy access by car, rail, and bicycle ensures convenience while retaining a secluded woodland atmosphere.
For private courses, our South Wales Woodland in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park can be booked. This woodland provides a peaceful and spacious environment for foraging and preserving, with varied terrain that supports a wide range of native plants and trees, ideal for a full two-day immersive experience.
Participants can sleep overnight in the woodland using their own sleeping system, or try one of our debris shelters for a true bushcraft experience. Nights in the woodland are calm and safe, offering a memorable connection with nature and the sounds of the forest.
Meals are cooked as a group over the open fire from the evening of day one (dietary requirements are catered for). The overnight stay allows you to practice campfire cooking, shelter management, and enjoy the woodland atmosphere from sunset to sunrise, enriching your hands-on learning experience.
No prior experience is necessary, just an interest in foraging, preserving, and working with seasonal ingredients. A general level of fitness is needed for walking between habitats, but the pace is relaxed to allow observation and learning.
Participants should bring personal kit for the overnight stay, including suitable clothing, sleeping bag, and personal items. Guidance on kit suitability will be provided by the instructors to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience.
The instructors bring years of experience in bushcraft, foraging, and preservation techniques, combining practical knowledge with a supportive teaching style. Each course is designed to be engaging, hands-on, and rewarding, ensuring that you leave with skills that can be applied long after the course ends.
All sessions take place in handpicked woodland locations that offer a safe and inspiring environment. The combination of immersive woodland experiences, expert guidance, and practical skills ensures participants enjoy a unique learning experience that deepens their connection with nature.
About the centre
South London
We partner with Rewilding Britain to help protect our natural spaces for future adventures.
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Surrey, East and West Sussex, United Kingdom
From £260
Surrey, East and West Sussex, United Kingdom
From £260
