Gather, Kindle & Craft
A year-long journey in ethnobotany, foraging & wild crafts.
Five immersive weekends following the turning of the seasons.
Learn to identify, harvest and preserve edible and medicinal wild plants and fungi.
Create practical tools and crafts from natural materials.
Cooking and sharing fireside meals from our wild harvests.
Building relations and community.
COURSE OVERVIEW
Over five weekends between March and October, we will journey together through the changing seasons, learning directly from the landscapes of South Devon.
This is more than a foraging course. It is an invitation to build a deeper relationship with the plants around us through observation, craft, food, fire and community.
As the year unfolds, you’ll learn to confidently identify edible and medicinal plants and fungi, preserve seasonal harvests, weave and carve practical objects from natural materials, cook over the fire, and discover the traditional skills that embed us into the living tapestry of the natural world.
Each weekend builds on the last. Together we’ll create a handmade kit of useful tools, preserve a shared pantry of wild foods throughout the seasons, and celebrate the final gathering with a feast prepared almost entirely from the harvests of the year.
Our base is Bowden Pillars Farm near Totnes, with day trips to woodland, coast and moor, allowing us to experience the rich diversity of Devon’s landscapes.
WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
This programme is open to anyone with a curiosity about the natural world.
No previous experience of foraging or crafting is required. Whether you’re completely new or already have experience with wild food, bushcraft, herbalism or traditional crafts, you’ll find opportunities to deepen your knowledge and develop your skills.
We welcome people who want to:
• Build confidence identifying wild plants safely
• Learn practical seasonal skills
• Spend more time outdoors
• Slow down and reconnect with the rhythms of nature
• Create useful handmade objects
• Preserve and cook wild food
• Become part of a small community that journeys through the seasons together
Our emphasis is on learning together in a supportive environment where curiosity is encouraged and everyone contributes to the experience
WHY JOIN?
Modern life often keeps us disconnected from the landscapes that sustain us.
By returning to the same place throughout the year, we begin to notice the subtle changes in the seasons—the first spring greens, the flowering meadows and the fruiting berries and mushrooms of autumn. Plants and fungi become familiar neighbours rather than nameless scenery.
More than simply learning to identify plants, you’ll gain a range of practical skills needed to work with them. Together you’ll learn how to harvest responsibly, process, preserve and prepare a diverse range of wild plants, seaweeds, fungi, nuts and berries using time-honoured techniques such as fermentation, pickling, drying, roasting and cooking over the fire. These are skills designed to be taken home and woven into your everyday lives, enabling you to benefit from the nutritional and medicinal value of the wild all around us, whilst appreciating the cultural importance of these practices.
By the end of the year, you’ll leave with far more than knowledge. You’ll have a collection of handmade crafts, jars filled with your own preserved wild foods and greater confidence in the landscape around you.
WEEKEND MODULE OUTLINE 2027
Spring - 26-28th March
Basics of plant identification, sensory connection, spring greens, wild fermentation, traditional fire making techniques, knife skills, coppicing and green wood carving, tool making, wool weaving
Late Spring - 14-16th May
* Coastal excursion
Coastal walk, seaweed identification and harvesting, pickles, cordials and shrubs, harvesting barks and making foraging containers
Summer - 9-11th July
Plant aromatics, herbal tea blending, wild medicine and herbal balm making, wild seed and flour blends, weaving and cordage making
Late Summer - 10-12th September
* Dartmoor excursion
Introduction to mushroom identification, medicinal mushroom tinctures, foraging, processing and preserving hedgerow berries, fired earth pottery
Autumn - 15th-17th October
Processing, preserving and cooking with acorns and other nuts, root harvesting and preparations, mushroom foraging, earth paints and natural dyes, wild feast and celebration
Additional activities:
- Firesides and song sharing
- Tarp and hammock set up (optional)
- Wild swimming
- Saunas (we have an on-site sauna at the farm)
