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Foraging and Wilderness Cookery Course – Level 3 (NCFE IIQ Accredited)
Duration: Friday 7 pm to Sunday 12 pm
Accreditation: NCFE IIQ Level 3 Certification
- Course: Foraging and Wilderness Cookery (CQ10675).
- Dates: 1st-3rd May in Devon and 29th-31st May in Staffordshire.
- Venue: Devon (Near Exeter - EX11 1LU) and Staffordshire (Near Burton upon Trent - DE13 9RW).
- Times: 7pm on the Friday - midday on the Sunday.
- Ages: All ages above 14 years welcome.
- Certificates: From 1st August 2022, all certifications will be in the form of eCertificates.
Course Overview
Discover the edible treasures of the wild and learn how to turn them into nourishing woodland meals on our Level 3 Foraging & Wilderness Cookery Course. This immersive, hands-on weekend is designed to guide you through plant and tree identification, safe wild-food gathering and ethical foraging — then teach you how to cook and prepare what you find, using basic camp-fire or wilderness-style cooking methods.
Whether you’re a complete beginner curious about wild food, or a seasoned bushcraft enthusiast wanting to deepen your woodland cooking skills — this course offers something for everyone. Under expert instruction, you’ll learn to recognise useful plants, understand their uses (edible, medicinal or otherwise), and make wild ingredients work in practical cooking.
What You’ll Learn & Do
- Plant & Tree Identification: Learn how to recognise a wide range of edible, medicinal, and — importantly — poisonous plants found in woods, hedgerows and fields. Also learn how to identify useful tree species and understand what their wood can be used for.
- Ethical & Legal Foraging: Understand safe foraging practices, conservation, and the legal aspects of wild-food harvesting.
- Wild-Food Collection & Preparation: Go out and gather ingredients for meals — herbs, plants, potentially game — then clean, prepare and cook them using camp-fire or simple cooking methods.
- Wilderness Cooking: Learn how to cook what you forage. From simple woodland breakfasts to full meals, you’ll practice cooking over fire or basic stoves, and get a feel for real wilderness self-sufficiency.
- Tree & Wood Knowledge: Gain insight into local woodlands — what tree species are around, how wood can be used (firewood, tool-making, etc.), and sustainable wood use.
Why Choose This Course
- Accredited Qualification: Earn a Level 3 NCFE IIQ certificate — a recognised credential demonstrating your competence in foraging and wilderness cookery.
- Hands-On, Immersive Weekend: This isn’t just theory — you’ll be out in the wild, gathering real edible plants, prepping food, cooking over fire or stove, and getting a full wilderness-food experience.
- Real Wilderness & Woodland Skills: Learn not only what to eat — but how to live from the land, respecting conservation, understanding plants and wood, and using minimal tools.
- Suitable for All Levels: Whether you’ve never foraged before or you already know your wild garlic from your stinging nettles — the course is designed to meet you where you are and build your knowledge and confidence.
Ideal For
- Anyone curious about wild food, edible plants, or woodland cooking.
- Bushcraft enthusiasts looking to add foraging and cookery to their skills.
- Campers, hikers or outdoors-loving people who want to learn to eat from the land — ethically and safely.
- People interested in sustainable living, woodland ecology, or expanding their outdoor self-sufficiency skills.
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Friday's Itinerary:
- 7.00pm Safety Brief
- 7:30pm Make Camp (light fires, put up tents)
- 8:30pm Safe Foraging, Conservation and Foraging within the Law
- 9:30pm Make foraging and digging sticks.
Saturday's Itinerary:
- 8:30am Plant ID (Looking at edible, medicinal and poisonous plants) and reading the landscape
- 12:30pm Lunch
- 1:30pm Cooking methods and making the most of your meals
- 3:30pm More Foraging. This time you go out and forage for your evening meal. Especially ingredients to go in a rabbit stew
- 5:00pm Ingredients, food preparation and hygiene
- 7:00pm Woodland Cooking. You cook the meal that you've been foraging and hunting for all day.
Sunday's Itinerary:
- 8:30am Recipes and a woodland breakfast
- 10:00am Tree ID, learning how to identify trees and what we use them for in the woods and at home.
- Midday: Photos, certificates and sadly, as all good things must come to an end, depart.
The itinerary may change depending on the weather. Please note that only the Foraging part of this course is NCFE CQ Accredited.
