Name: Foraging Course - Heaton Park, Newcastle
Start: 2026-06-27T10:00:00+01:00
Location: Heaton Park

Foraging Course - Heaton Park, Newcastle

Overview
Take a guided walk through Heaton Park and learn some of the many different wild plants that can be used as food and medicine.
In this 3 hour foraging walk you will be introduced to some of the many different plants that grow all around us and learn how to safely and sustainably use them as food in a variety of dishes, drinks and preserves.
Led by experienced forager, herbalist and ethnobotanist Jason Irving, this course will equip you with the skills to begin foraging yourself and to take the first steps towards learning more about the wonderful world of weeds.
We will cover practical plant identification, safety and sustainable harvesting, while discussing some of the diverse cultural history, folklore and scientific research associated with using plants and fungi as wild foods.
Hopefully going for a walk will never be the same again as the diversity of plant life that surrounds us everyday is opened up to you.
The walk will conclude with 30-40 minutes where we sit, with time to share foraged cordial, tea and a snack, and discuss what we learned and answer any further questions you may have.
Course Leader
Jason Irving is a trained forager, herbalist, ethnobotanist and historian, who has led foraging courses for over 14 years.
For 3 years he worked as a full time forager in Kent supplying restaurants, he then moved to London to study herbal medicine, and worked at Kew Gardens for three years.
He has led hundreds of foraging courses in parks across London, working with restaurants, bars, community gardens and artists. He recently moved back to Newcastle, where he grew up.
Jason has an MSc in ethnobotany taught at Kent and Kew, and recently completed a PhD on the history of medicine, botany and empire in Jamaica. He is a visiting lecturer in botany at Betonica School of Herbal medicine.
Since he was a child, Jason has been passionate about finding and identifying wild plants and fungi and learning their many uses as both food and medicine throughout history.
He has a wealth of personal, professional and academic experience studying and teaching about the used of wild foods and medicines - knowledge that he is always keen to share in an engaging, accessible and informative way.