The Wild Side of Life

The Wild Side of Life

The Wild Side of Life We also run in-depth training in mycotherapy and host the annual UK & Ireland Medicinal Mushrooms Conference.

The Wild Side of Life offers courses with an ecolgical focus, from beginners to advanced in mushroom identification, wild food foraging, survival skills and herbal medicine. We can deliver team building / staff development events and one to one mentoring if required. Fred Gillam (owner) has made numerous radio and television appearances, including with Jeremy Vine and recently on For the Love of B

Operating as usual

23/04/2024

Perfect St. George's day morning and Fred is out foraging for St. George's mushrooms with Max... that foraging doggie is such a Star! Enjoy!

If you want to learn some foraging skills, check out our website first at https://www.thewildsideoflife.co.uk

2 Day Medicinal Mushrooms Masterclass | The Wild Side of Life 19/04/2024

Anyone fancy a Medicinal Mushrooms Masterclass in Avebury (May 18th & 19th)? I have space for you so get in touch!

2 Day Medicinal Mushrooms Masterclass | The Wild Side of Life 2 Day Medicinal Mushrooms Masterclass A practical 2 Day Masterclass in mushroom medicine making, backed up with supporting theory tuition and a trip into the forest to see some of the medicinal fungi in-situ. Avebury World Heritage Site, Wiltshire, UK – 18th & 19th May 2024 COST: £220.00 – Cont...

14/04/2024

Been sorting out the front end of the dispensary today and stock taking (lots more behind the scenes). Somehow - my mind feels a lot clearer too! :-)

02/04/2024

Little clusters of Dragon's eggs appearing on the downs... The St. George's are up!!

Photos from The Wild Side of Life's post 23/03/2024

With spring on the way, our minds tend to shift away from the insular reflectivity of winter into a more outward focus, and we become acutely aware of the beauty and bounty of the natural world around us... with that in mind, here are my latest foraging course offerings for the Spring. Do get in touch with me... [email protected]... about these if you want to come!

1) 28th March - SEASHORE FORAGING - North Devon
https://thewildsideoflife.co.uk/courses/seashore-foraging-days/

2) 6th April - WILD GARLIC, SPRING CURE SOUPS AND REFERSHING HERBAL WATERS &
3) 4th May - SPRING FUNGI, SAUTES, SALADS & HERB TEAS
https://thewildsideoflife.co.uk/courses/mushrooms-and-plants/spring-shoots-mushrooms-discovery-day/

4) 11th of May - The start of our SPRING & SUMMER FORAGER'S CLUB that takes you foraging throughout the Spring & Summer months. https://thewildsideoflife.co.uk/courses/seashore-foraging-days/

Join me for confidence in how to safely and sustainably forage for a wide variety of tasty and useful ingredients, and meals will never be the same again! [email protected]

23/03/2024

https://thewildsideoflife.co.uk/foraging/the-seven-herb-spring-cure-soup/

It's that time of year again - time to blend wild garlic, young nettle tops, chickweed, cleavers and a host of other young shoots to make this mineralising, vitamin C packed, pre-biotic soup that our forebears knew as the 'Spring Cure'. Just like horses, humans often were in need of something to bring them back into condition after the winter... living on dried rations and preserves can take a toll on health and unlike today, there was no out of season fruit or veg from the other side of the world available... so enjoy the bounty of the new season as it comes in - your very own Spring Cure!

10 plants to forage for in the city 25/02/2024

A very good read, it's that time of the year again when delicious ingredients start popping out of the ground...



10 plants to forage for in the city Think dandelions are weeds? Think again! There’s a bumper crop of edible plants ripe for urban foraging in parks and gardens this winter and spring.

If you go down to the woods today … don't come back with mushrooms 15/12/2023

We got a nice write-up in The Guardian - recycled again in last week's news feed... I never knew I was going to be quoted... they clearly came on one of my courses under cover, but it is nice to see that they reported accurately and fairly. I think that foraging for common fungi for personal consumption is sustainable, especially as disturbing mushrooms actually facilitates their spread - if any mushroom kickers or mushroom mowers read this - you are responsible! There is good research out there to substantiate this. Commercial picking, though rare in the UK compared to most European countries, has a far different scale of impact. Those who accuse people with mushrooms in carrier bags in the woods as being commercial foragers though, or suggest that "they just take everything", clearly haven't thought through what commercial foraging would actually look like. There are very few commercially viable species that pickers could sell in the UK, against a backdrop of literally thousands, because there is no market for the rest and most chefs don't even know what they are.

The desired species are all easy to identify and all common, with the exception of lion's mane - which 10 years ago commercial pickers had never heard of - but which is justifiably protected by law. Chefs only want chanterelles (girolle), porcini (cep), black trumpet, winter chanterelle... maybe a few more adventurous ones may put chicken of the woods, hen of the woods or blewits on the menu occasionally, or black morels in spring. All of these are common in the right habitats - and there is the key. Habitat loss and destruction are the real enemy when it comes to fungi conservation. All of these are also available at competitive rates from north eastern and south eastern Europe, via companies like Eurofresh. There is not really much call for sweaty broken mushrooms in carrier bags over here - and no-one would want them!

If you go down to the woods today … don't come back with mushrooms As the desire for wild fungi has grown in Britain so too have concerns about illegal commercial foraging in protected woodlands

10/11/2023

are just 2 of the main ingredients in a tradional tonic for immunity and one that has been made around the 🌍for centuries.
Supporting the innate immune system is how we keep well, recover quickly and prevent problems.
It's all about being prepared and working at it, health isn't handed on golden platter, it's worked at every day and often the older we get the harder we have to work as function declines.
Recent years saw a American company try to trademark Fire Cider, thankfully commonsense prevailed when Herbalists went to court to plead the case of tradition over trademark.

👏🙌 Well done and her colleagues who and ensured control didn't over power.
We often have to all stand up, be counted and speak out for what we know and believe to be right, our truth and justice.

Kinder Ridge Edale, Nether Tor & Grindsbrook Clough 01/07/2023

Thought you might all enjoy this little hiking / foraging video of our recent trip to the Peak District

Kinder Ridge Edale, Nether Tor & Grindsbrook Clough Our little video of me (Fred the Forager), Tasch and Max forager dog climbing the slopes around Edale up onto the Kinder Scout ridge and back down again via ...

Photos from The Wild Side of Life's post 01/05/2023

https://mailchi.mp/cfd0ee6d64b8/medicinal-mushrooms-workshops-are-back Medicinal Mushrooms 2 Day Workshops are back! After a 2.5 year pause over the pandemic we are now teaching these workshops in person again. Come and learn medicine making and mushroom ID skills on the 17th & 18th of June, and learn how to make mushroom medicines that are both safe and potent, in your own kitchen at home. Take home what you make and the knowledge to make more!

Location: Avebury World Heritage Site, Wiltshire, UK
Contact [email protected] for details

A Tale of St. George, St. George’s Mushroom & Morels | The Wild Side of Life 27/04/2023

https://thewildsideoflife.co.uk/foraging/a-tale-of-st-george-st-georges-mushroom-morels/

A Tale of St. George, St. George's Mushroom & Morels....

A little seasonal writing for you... as foragers it is time to celebrate the bounty of spring!

A Tale of St. George, St. George’s Mushroom & Morels | The Wild Side of Life A Tale of St. George, St. George’s Mushroom & Morels Posted on 27/04/2023 by FredTheForager With St. George’s day in England just passed, and the festival of beltane / May day almost upon us, we turn our thoughts to the rapidly emerging vegetation all around and the appearance of spring mushroom...

Photos from The Wild Side of Life's post 25/04/2023

Yesterday... a day spent teaching and sharing with Marlborough Downs Space for Nature, a local partnership of farmers working together to make nature conservation a reality... we finished the day with creamy goat's cheese from The Gourmet Goat Farmer and St. George's mushroom, fairy ring champignon, hogweed shoot, spring beauty and wild garlic canapes. A memorable and enjoyable day!

https://www.spacefornature.net

Photos from The Wild Side of Life's post 19/02/2021

Having fun! Filming making medicines from mushrooms for "Exploring the Healing Potential of Medicinal Mushrooms" Stage 2 with the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. This part of the course would normally be a practical workshop but this year it has to be carried out by Zoom in the middle of Avebury - at the Wonderful Elements of Avebury! Loving it and feeling really blessed!

Wild Food 31/01/2021

Wild Food Provided to YouTube by IDOLWild Food · Peter BroderickBlackberry℗ Erased Tapes Records Ltd.Released on: 2020-08-28Drums: Peter BroderickGuitar: Peter Broderi...

12/01/2021

Loads of wood ears about folks. They are good for you and tasty too... ideal for Chinese / south east Asian dishes, also wonderful added to casseroles and stews, makes a great starter salad with garlic and diced vegetables, dressed with soy sauce. So versatile!

The Healing Potential of Medicinal Mushrooms - Practitioner Course 22/12/2020

The 'Exploring the Healing Potential of Medicinal Mushrooms' practitioner course is well under way. The 5 webinar series which is part 1 of the 3 part practitioner course can still be booked as a standalone option from the bookings page (link below). They have been very well received so far and will be available to view as recorded sessions for the next 6 weeks. There is more than 12 hours of fresh content for those interested in medicinal mushrooms.

Qualified health practitioners can then go on to complete stage 2 (a day of practical medicine making workshops by Zoom) and stage 3 (a series of 5 online learning modules) before applying for professional registration. Health practitioner / medical students can also take this option and apply for registration when they have qualified. Take a look via this eventbrite page for more details...

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-healing-potential-of-medicinal-mushrooms-practitioner-course-tickets-133353356479

The Healing Potential of Medicinal Mushrooms - Practitioner Course Webinar Series, Practitioner Course and Practical Workshop with Fred Gillam

Ten Mushrooms of Winter | The Wild Side of Life 14/12/2020

Here's a guide to Winter Mushroom Foraging in the UK... have fun on those crisp winter days and maybe bring home something for a tasty hot supper!!

Ten Mushrooms of Winter | The Wild Side of Life Ten Mushrooms of Winter TEN MUSHROOMS OF WINTER (from November to February in the UK) Fred Gillam Field Blewit Lepista personata For a long time this mushroom has been in my top 5 and was my grandfather’s favourite! They have an exquisite depth of flavour but must be well cooked, as like many wild...

Exploring the Healing Potential of Medicinal Mushrooms 20/10/2020

There is still time to sign up for this. Webinar 1 about the world of the fungi has been recorded, allowing you to catch up. Webinar 2 in the series will go live at 7:30 PM this Thursday (22nd October). It is about the mycobiome, which is the fungal component of the microbiome. Notes will be available to those who attend.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/exploring-the-healing-potential-of-medicinal-mushrooms-tickets-120508798059?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing&fbclid=IwAR3ogNtTbKxz57GGm5_Mmg9PLeg0ZUDtiuaTVMnpk3OTLMumtt4YFHf-3zo

Exploring the Healing Potential of Medicinal Mushrooms Webinar Series, Practitioner Course and Practical Workshop with Fred Gillam

Mushroom Discovery Days | The Wild Side of Life 14/09/2020

New dates for Mushroom Discovery Days available here...

(New Forest & Henley areas)

Mushroom Discovery Days | The Wild Side of Life Mushroom Discovery Days Exciting Saturdays in stunning locations for the gourmet, photographer or naturalist alike… discover the world of wild mushrooms, how to identify them and harvest them sustainably! A nice firm cep or porcini, Boletus edulis The Wild Side of Life was voted Food & Drink Award...

01/09/2020

Want to learn how to make nutritious vegan beefsteak jerky? The mushroom season's getting started here and I took a walk in some ancient woodlands to show you the beefsteak mushroom, some remarkable trees and the link between wood decaying fungi and bees (subtitles available).

Beefsteak & Other Forest Delights in Late Summer 01/09/2020

The mushroom season's getting started here in southern England. I hope you enjoy my video about making nutritious and delicious mushroom jerky after a relaxing walk among the ancient trees.
If you ❤️ it, feel free to SHARE it!

Beefsteak & Other Forest Delights in Late Summer Late summer in the south of England is when the fungi start putting in a more significant appearance. The mushroom season just beginning to warm up. Here, wi...

04/06/2020

A bit of BBC footage from a year ago... hogweed shoots are delicious, but you have to cook them safely :-)

30/05/2020

few ideas about how to include gorse, Ulex europaeus in your daily foraged food and a few anecdotes too... "When the gorse is not in bloom, kissing's out of fashion" so they say.

Don't forget to check out Fred the Forager's channel on Youtube and subscribe to the Foraging videos playlist...
https://www.youtube.com/playlist…

22/05/2020

TREE HUGGING CHILLOUT: I've been talking with Sue Kinnear about the magic of hugging trees and what the power of empathy can do for you too... listen on BBC Wiltshire... (at 2:18 to 2:25 in the program)...

(Click the link to listen)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08cfqp5

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Our Story

The Wild Side of Life offers courses from beginners to advanced in gourmet mushroom collecting, wild food foraging, crafting herbal remedies, wilderness skills, bushcraft and greenwood crafts. We can deliver team building, stag & hen days and one to one mentoring. Vouchers are available for birthdays, high days and holidays. Fred Gillam (business owner) is the author of Poisonous Plants in Great Britain, an Amazon Best Seller in Category.

Videos (show all)

Foraging for Saint George's mushrooms on St. George's day... starring the beautiful foraging hound Max!Watch the whole v...
Up close and dirty with the common stinkhorn... a heady Dionysian orgy of rotting carrion and spore dispersal by flies