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 relationships 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 through the seasons, and celebrate the final gathering with a feast prepared almost entirely from the year's harvests.
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.
The course is primarily designed for adults (18 years and over), but we are open to younger people joining under certain circumstances. Please get in touch with us to discuss.
We welcome people who want to:
• Build confidence in 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 background 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
- Wild swimming
- Saunas (we have an on-site sauna at the farm)
WHAT’S INCLUDED?
• Five immersive weekends (Friday evening–Sunday afternoon)
• Camping at Bowden Pillars Farm
• Small group learning
• All teaching and guidance
• All craft materials and preserving ingredients
• Shared evening meals
• Final wild food feast
• Online mentoring and peer support
COMMITMENT
This programme is offered as one complete journey through the seasons.
Rather than individual workshops, we ask participants to commit to the full year so that we can develop a secure container for learning, while building relationship and trust.
Throughout the course we will be encouraging self guided learning between modules by offering exercises to deepen your personal practice
COURSE FEES
£1500
The cost of this course is £1500 for the full 5 weekend modules. You need to commit to the full 5 weekend modules; individual modules are not available for purchase separately, but the course can be paid for in instalments.
We can offer a limited number of subsidised places for those in need. Please contact us to enquire.
Please complete the application form below.
We then require a £200 deposit to secure a place on the course.
For further enquiries, email:
gatherkindleandcraft@gmail.com
ABOUT THE COURSE LEADERS
Hannah Walker
Hannah is a forager, wild food educator and Registered Dietitian, with a passion for helping people nourish themselves both mentally and physically through common and often overlooked wild foods.
She has been leading foraging and wild food cooking courses for over 10 years, specialising in the culinary and medicinal potential of wild plants and fungi, as well as traditional methods of preserving seasonal abundance through wild fermentation and pickling.
Hannah has studied Regenerative Agriculture in Food and Farming at the Apricot Centre and is trained in Permaculture Design and Ethnobotany. Over the past three years, she has also studied mycology under Fred Gillam, developing her knowledge of the nutritional and medicinal qualities of wild mushrooms.
She is also a director and long-term volunteer with the Bowden Pillars Future Project, a regenerative community project based on the farmland where Gather, Kindle and Craft takes place.
Hannah brings together professional knowledge of nutrition with practical experience of wild food, preservation, regenerative agriculture and ethnobotany, with a strong emphasis on helping people develop a deeper and more nourishing relationship with the natural world.
Daniel Blackmore
Daniel is a woodland craftsman, expedition leader and passionate forager, with a particular fascination for wild fungi.
He specialises in traditional woodland crafts including wood carving and willow weaving, and leads wild camping and wilderness adventures on Dartmoor.
Daniel has spent the past four years studying mycology under Fred Gillam, developing a deep knowledge of wild mushrooms and their identification. His wider training has included learning with respected practitioners including Chris Salisbury, Lynx Vilden and John Ryder.
He is trained in outdoor leadership and holds a Level 4 qualification in Ethnobotany and wildlife identification and tracking.
Daniel brings together practical craft, wild food, ethnobotany and outdoor skills, with a strong emphasis on learning directly from the landscape and developing the confidence to work with natural materials.
TESTIMONIALS
“It has been wonderful to work with both Daniel and Hannah over the past year.”
Hannah's in-depth knowledge of plants and their uses is incredible and her ability to communicate and share that knowledge and passion shines through. Our participants have left her workshops full of smiles and inspired to take what they have learned from her into their lives and incorporate native plants within their diet and lifestyle. Her enthusiasm and love for plants bubbles over, making each workshop an experience full of joy.
Daniel provides a beautiful, gentle balance to each workshop. His knowledge and skills are shared with calm reassurance. His knowledge of traditional crafts is in-depth and endlessly fascinating, and inspires participants to have the confidence to try new skills. His teaching style is encouraging and collaborative so participants learn new skills almost without realising it. Daniel holds the space during workshops to create a mindful and calm environment, enabling everyone to create something of beauty.
Sarah Cracknell
Events Coordinator
Mare and Foal Sanctuary
“Foraging with Hannah & Daniel has been one of our highlight activities since moving to Devon.”
They are both so knowledgeable and fun to be around. My 25-year-old son & I did a forage & feast workshop with a focus on seaweed at East Prawle.
We took almost an hour to slowly make our way down to the beach, stopping regularly to learn about the foraging opportunities along the way. We were even treated to a tuneful seasonal shanti by Hannah & Daniel.
And after foraging on the beach for seaweed Daniel built a fire & cooked up the most delicious feast using our all our foraged ingredients, which was topped off by a delicious cake made by Hannah. Fueled by the knowledge we learned that day and a foraging workshop I attended with Hannah at Bowden Pillars I feel much more engaged with our new environment and emboldened to make the most of what it has to offer.
Radha
Attendee, Coastal Forage & Feast 2026
HOW TO APPLY
The next Gather, Kindle & Craft immersion course will run from March to October 2027.
We have a limited number of places available but there will be a waiting list if you don’t get a place the first time around.
Please ensure you've read all the information about the course on this website before applying.
The cost of this course is £1500 for the full 5 weekend modules. You need to be able to commit to the full 5 weekend modules; individual modules are not available to be purchased separately, but the course can be paid for in instalments.
Please complete the application form below:
https://form.jotform.com/gatherandnourishuk/gather-kindle--craft-application-fo
To complete this application, you will need to pay a non-refundable deposit of £200. We will send you the bank details upon receipt of your application. We will then confirm your place on the course via email, and we will then be in touch to discuss further details closer to the time.
If you have any questions at all, please just contact Hannah and Daniel at gatherkindleandcraft@gmail.com and we can arrange a call with you.
