Rural Courses

Rural Courses Mushrooms, Moonshine, Wild Food & Self Sufficiency Skills to offer you through hands-on workshops
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The wild larder is absolutely brimming at this time of year - greens, salad leaves, herbs, and succulent shoots are ever...
01/04/2026

The wild larder is absolutely brimming at this time of year - greens, salad leaves, herbs, and succulent shoots are everywhere. All you need is a bit of knowledge to safely bring these foraged delights into your diet!

The benefits are huge, not only through the enjoyment of intriguing new flavours, but also by gaining access to health-giving foods without having to visit a shop.

Join us for a day in idyllic surroundings, exploring, foraging, and sampling the host of wild foods spring has to offer.

There are just a few places left on our spring courses, being held on 17th, 18th, and 19th April at our site near Cranbrook, Kent.l

For booking and further information, please use the link in the bio.

The wild larder is absolutely brimming at this time of year - greens, salad leaves, herbs, and succulent shoots are ever...
01/04/2026

The wild larder is absolutely brimming at this time of year - greens, salad leaves, herbs, and succulent shoots are everywhere. All you need is a bit of knowledge to safely bring these foraged delights into your diet!

The benefits are huge, not only through the enjoyment of intriguing new flavours, but also by gaining access to health-giving foods without having to visit a shop.

Join us for a day in idyllic surroundings, exploring, foraging, and sampling the host of wild foods spring has to offer.

There are just a few places left on our spring courses, being held on 17th, 18th, and 19th April at our site near Cranbrook, Kent.l

For booking and further information, please use the link in the bio.

The wild lander is absolutely brimming at this time of year, greens, salad leaves, herbs and succulent shoots are everyw...
28/03/2026

The wild lander is absolutely brimming at this time of year, greens, salad leaves, herbs and succulent shoots are everywhere. All you need is a bit of knowledge to safety bring these foraged delights into your diet.

The benefits are huge, not only through the enjoyment of intriguing new flavours, but by gaining access to heath giving foods without having to visit a shop!

Join us for a day in a idilic surroundings exploring, foraging and sampling the host of wild foods Spring has to offer.

There are just a few places left on Spring courses being held on 17th, 18th and 18th April from our site near Cranbrook, Kent

For booking and further information please use the link in the bio.

On the second leg of my Scottish odyssey the stunning late winter landscape was only outdone by the beautiful welcome I ...
09/03/2026

On the second leg of my Scottish odyssey the stunning late winter landscape was only outdone by the beautiful welcome I received from my dear friend Claire of

Tenacious and talented Clair has created a vibrant and productive business, small holding and home in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. What an absolute privilege to have spent some time in her domain.

Thank you Clair for dedicating so much time to me and making me feel so valued as a guest. I won’t soon forget being sent into icy waters to collect kelp ( ok it was for me) or the sound of your laughter as I shirked and exhibited the full extent of my Southern hardiness.

Claire has written an inspirational book about the use of wild plants as herbal medicine which can be found for sale on her website. My copy is already well thumbed and my mind full of potions and lotions I want to create.

I have just arrived back from a fabulous visit to Scotland and the North visiting friends include famous forager and aut...
09/03/2026

I have just arrived back from a fabulous visit to Scotland and the North visiting friends include famous forager and author

We all know the cliché regarding heroes and meeting them, so to be friends with a titan of the wild food world would seem a risky business!

Happily in addition to his many talents Mark is an extraordinarily warm kind man who wears his standing in the foraging community with an arresting humility .

Thank you mark for rolling out the red carpet, tutoring me in the ways of spoot wrangling and making me so very welcome.

Mark has recently published a magnificent book on coastal foraging, a fantastic opportunity to gain a little of his exceptional knowledge, get one while you can!

Our annual visit to the South Kent coast to rake and gather cockles.I take my children every year, it’s an excuse to exp...
22/01/2026

Our annual visit to the South Kent coast to rake and gather cockles.

I take my children every year, it’s an excuse to experience the bleak beauty of the sand flats, engage with food in the way nature intended us to and to work together as a family.

Often foraging is not about what or how much you gather, but a motivation to do what is instinctively right.

We are very much looking forward to our two day winter hedge laying course which will be held on 21st and 22nd February ...
04/01/2026

We are very much looking forward to our two day winter hedge laying course which will be held on 21st and 22nd February 2026 near Ashford in Kent.

This is a fantastic opportunity to learn an ancient craft which is regaining its importance as a vital technique for returning old overgrown hedges, to vigorous, manageable hedges with incredible environmental benefit.

Last year’s course was very popular, so if you have been waiting for the new dates, get signed up in good time to take advantage of the early booking discount and to secure a place.

We are incredibly grateful to Hatch Park for hosting this event in 2026.

Full information and booking can be found via the bio, but please feel free to get in touch with any questions.

We look forward to seeing you!

Rural Courses Gift Vouchers - The gift of an unforgettable experience and new skills for Christmas! Rural Courses is si...
11/11/2025

Rural Courses Gift Vouchers - The gift of an unforgettable experience and new skills for Christmas!

Rural Courses is situated in the idyllic Kent countryside where we take great pride and pleasure in providing memorable experiences and training in a diverse range of self sufficiency skills.

We cover foraging, mushroom foraging, medicinal mushrooms, charcuterie, bee keeping, cider making, hedgerow wine making and much more besides.

A voucher from Rural Courses is a simple way of giving someone knowledge and skills that will last a lifetime and it’s certain to be a fun day out as well!

Buying one is simple, just use the link in the bio to find the booking page and click vouchers, or use the voucher page on the Rural Courses website.

Vouchers can be purchased for any amount of money and can be used when booking any course.

They are digital, and can be forwarded online or printed off instantly - and then given as a physical gift.

Rural Courses is run by self sufficiency and foraging expert Michael White and
Most events are located near Cranbrook, Kent, UK about an hours train journey from London.

We look forward to seeing your friends and loved ones in 2026.

We are wildly excited to announce that our full range of courses and workshops for 2026 are now available to book on lin...
11/11/2025

We are wildly excited to announce that our full range of courses and workshops for 2026 are now available to book on line.

After a sell out 2025 we are once again offering carefully curated days blending essential theory and hands on practice in subjects including:

Seasonal foraging
Edible mushroom foraging
Medicinal mushrooms
Charcuterie ( food smoking and curing)
Hedgerow wine making
Cider making
Beekeeping
Hedge laying
And more …

Apologies to all those who didn’t get places in 2025. We will be emailing those who joined waiting lists, so you can book early!

Don’t forget that we sell vouchers as well, the perfect Christmas gift!

We look forward to seeing friends, old and new in 2026!

Information and booking links can be found in the bio

There are still fantastic mushrooms to be found, so, after a sellout season of courses, I’ve decided to add a pop-up Edi...
20/10/2025

There are still fantastic mushrooms to be found, so, after a sellout season of courses, I’ve decided to add a pop-up Edible Fungi Foraging session at 10am Friday 24th October near Cranbrook, in Kent.

We will head into the woods for 2 1/2 hours looking for, identifying, and gathering edible mushrooms which will be divided at the end of the session. It will also be an opportunity to look at a few medicinal types and many other interesting species.

The cost will be £30 to be paid in cash on the day .

Please note that this session will not appear on my booking system, so please message me if you would like to come and I’ll send you the details.

Places are limited and it will be first come first serve.

I look forward to seeing some of you on Friday for a final frolic with some wonderful edible mushrooms .

Autumn foraging courses are rapidly approaching and we have some cancellation places available for all three dates 19th,...
02/09/2025

Autumn foraging courses are rapidly approaching and we have some cancellation places available for all three dates 19th, 20th and 21st September. These are available at early bird prices, so if you are quick you can grab a bargain!

The full day foraging courses include discussion , foraging walk, lunch and sampling of all the foraged goodies found on the day .

September is an exciting time to forage with an abundance of wild salad leaves, herbs, seeds, berries, fungi and more to. E found in the picturesque meadows, hedges and woodlands around the Rural Courses site.

Further information and booking details can be found using the profile link, but do get in touch if you have any questions.

Cherry plum harvest - these little plums, like all fruit this season are having a bumper year! They are a nuisance to pi...
07/08/2025

Cherry plum harvest - these little plums, like all fruit this season are having a bumper year! They are a nuisance to pick In quality, so it’s much easier to put a tarpaulin under the trees and give them a good shake.

There are yellow and red varieties, all with slight variation in fruit size, shade and flavour, but they all tend to be a little bland ( in my opinion at least), so lend themselves well to processing.

The 40kg or so gathered with my children in 30 minutes today will be fermented to make the base for distillation into plum brandy, schnapps, Pálinka, An eau de vie or whatever you like to call your plum derived white spirits.

More on that another day

Many thanks to for letting us harvest from their trees.

Address

Rural HQ, Goudhurst Road
Kent
TN172LL

Telephone

+441580852679

Website

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