Wild Food Foraging Walk: SE5: December 12th

Join North London resident and lifetime forager Ru Kenyon for a morning exploring some of the capitals most fascinating wild edible plants and wild mushrooms (season permitting).

The microclimate that is Greater London plays host to an enormous and diverse range of edible and medicinal plants, both those growing in the wild and those that we might refer to as “unintentionally“ edible, species introduced by either Victorian Park planners or modern day councils and even domestic gardeners.

During this walk we will look at various topics ranging from edible and historical uses of plants and mushrooms, herbal medicine, self-sufficiency, ethnobotany, cookery and more.

Ru got a taste for wild food foraging as a boy eating clover in sandwiches with his mum; the idea that you could eat food straight out of the ground was amazing and that planted the seed for a lifelong obsession. As a naturalist, environmentalist, and explorer of the British countryside, foraging for food was a natural progression whilst studying Physics at the University of Bristol. While working as an engineer on low carbon building design and finding himself more interested in going out to the woods to photograph wildflowers and wild mushrooms before and after work, it was becoming clear that something was missing in his career. The 2008 financial crash gave the impetus for Ru to follow his passions and go completely DIY. Building a home, growing, and foraging for food. The local knowledge gained from immersion in the local landscape around London led naturally to foraging as a business and teaching the skills to others. Edible wild mushrooms were his first love in wild food, and he dabbled in mushroom cultivation from the start. This came together when Ru set up a growing project at the Hawkwood Nursery in Chingford. Ru now teaches and forages wild food full time and has been a member of the Association of Foragers since 2018. The majority of his time though is spent processing the many wild harvests, which he says are the most important skills for foraging in the end.

SE5 provides some great locations for foraging walks in London such as Burgess Park, and Peckham Rye Park. The exact location for this event will be confirmed closer to the event.

Host or Publisher Forage London and Beyond