My name is Rob…

After stumbling across a couple of books on the subject of foraging in my late teens, I have spent the last twenty years or so as an amateur forager - literally defined as 'the acquisition of food by hunting, fishing, or the gathering of plant matter' - learning everything I could about the subject as the years passed. And with the arrival of my two young sons, it gave me the opportunity to both spend even more time foraging outdoors in the Cotswolds, but even more significantly, to start passing on my years of acquired knowledge to the next generation.

Over the last few years I have begun working, both on my own and with various outdoors groups, clubs and local restaurants in order to help ever more people grow an understanding and appreciation of our wild food larder. I am very interested in the seasonality of wild edibles, although I am equally keen to find new and interesting ways to preserve and prolong these seasons, particularly if these methods work to enhance and manipulate the available flavours.

I see foraging as a way of getting people to think about and develop a love for the wild food all around them in the outdoors, as well as helping to grow a greater appreciation and understanding of the natural world as a whole. I hope after spending time with me you will see, and begin to notice, different habitats, understand why certain plants grow there in preference to elsewhere, and start to see links and patterns in plants that are either edible or otherwise useful in various other ways. Sometimes a foraging walk may end up with you taking nothing physical away, but you will definitely return home with a far greater knowledge and to be far better prepared for your next outing in the outdoors.

Over the coming months and years I hope to be able to offer an array of opportunities for people to discover, develop and further grow an interest in our wild edibles and nature, including both plants that are native to the UK as well as some of the more interesting overseas introductions.