Autumn is finally here!

With Autumn Equinox a few days away marking the celebration of Mabon 20th March in ancient cultures, the rains have finally arrived. We were celebrating Misha’s birthday with our tribe after when the rain came and moved our celebration away from the fire pit and under cover.

Listening to the rain trickle down on the marquee in our forest a sigh of happiness and relief was had by all, finally the cool has come.

Of course we all know what my brain did “THE MUSHROOMS ARE COMING”

Every year when the heat of Summer finally fades and the 1st good soaking of the soil comes, it’s almost as if you can hear the mycelium (the body of mushrooms under the soil) waking up and stretching after 6 months of hibernation.

Then it’s a game of treasure hunting, keeping an eye out for the 1st fungi of the season to pop its head out of the ground and say hello to it’s old friends the ever present foragers.

It is indeed an unspoken joyous competition in your local area who finds the first edible mushroom for the season. As you all look on in envy as other states, who this year got more rainfall have baskets full of fungi are proudly shared on the socials.

We are now officially in countdown mode to announce the dates for our grand opening of our new education space on the farm and this year’s mushroom workshops, walks and cooking classes! A bit more rain and we’ll be able to announce dates, so excited.

Every year this rainfall also brings out the negative media cycle about mycophobia – fear of mushrooms. And every year I am so put out by these cautionary tales of mushroom poisonings “don’t eat any mushroom that’s not from a store” is the line that gets played constantly, further discouraging people from the joys of foraging for fungi.

As a professional foraging educator for over a decade I am frequently telling people “foraging for mushrooms is safe, provided you are shown what to do my a knowledgeable forager or learn from a professional.”

BUT THIS YEAR I saw something on my local socials that struck fear into my heart. I saw a bloke who attended 1 of my weeds workshops a few years ago, now advertising that he is going to run mushroom workshops. Now I was as most foragers are a bit territorial about their mushroom patches. But what I was really concerned about was the fact that only a few years back this person was sending photos of mushrooms he was trying to sell to a restaurant in Daylesford, and in that basket there was a few poisonous mushrooms. I had to intervene and caution him against selling mushrooms when you don’t have a good few years of mushroom foraging under your belt and still need to improve your mushroom knowledge journey.

This is the real danger zone, when people pick a few mushrooms, then get on a few mushroom ID facebook groups and are more confident in their foraging knowledge then their experience is in reality.

But what is really dangerous is when those inexperienced people start teaching others incorrect information, or don’t educate others properly how dangerous mushroom foraging can be if you don’t follow the rules. 1 incorrectly picked mushroom in a basket can be a life or death mistake.

So please fellow foragers out there, novice foragers and anyone interested in learning about foraging, fact check your educators.

Make sure you are learning from a reputable person, professional or local foraging guru, because as foraging becomes more popular there are some real cowboys out there who just to make money and safety isn’t always their #1 priority.

If the person you are learning off isn’t locally known as “The Mushroom Gal or Guy” then walk away.

There are so many seasoned, talented, incredibly knowledgeable and reputable foraging educators around Australia to learn from please do your homework and be careful out there this season.

The only thing more dangerous than picking the wrong mushroom, is incorrect mushroom information.

Also please don’t ever trust an online identification source, and find a local educator who can share this journey with you well and safely, first hand with knowledge.

Here is a few of well respected foraging educators around our great country:

SA

Kate Grigg ‘The Wild Food Huntress’ One of the best in the industry- her mushroom workshops are sold out every year so book in quick all you south aus folk! Great approach to education and great sense of humor too, I cannot recommend her highly enough. https://wildfoodhuntress.com.au/

NSW

Diego Bonetto – ‘The Weedy One’ a legend of our industry with many years of foraging education under his belt, a published author on foraging, and great guy with an even better sense of humor and levity that he brings to foraging education. https://www.diegobonetto.com/

Chanterelle Foggin – The Foragers Plate- a wonderful woman who has a wicked sense of humor like myself and a wealth of knowledge, cannot recommend her highly enough. https://www.theforagersplate.com/about-me

Pat Collins – The Best in the biz- Pat is foraging Australia’s Grandmother and has been doing this longer than I have been alive and is a great person to learn from. https://patcollins.com.au/

Jake Cassar- Bushcraft and wild survival guru- a great tracker and bush tucker educator. https://www.jakecassarbushcraft.com.au/

TAS

Mic Giuliani – a great Tassie mushroom guru and a fountain of foraging knowledge and how to cook it well. Mic’s cooking is renowned across the state and country. https://siroccosouth.com.au/

VIC

Milkwood – running fantastic courses on all things mushroom & permaculture https://www.milkwood.net/

UrbanKulture- learn all about growing your own mushrooms from these legends. https://www.urbankulture.com.au/

MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology https://myco.org.au/

Jeremy Hegge – Partial Veil- incredible mushroom knowledge vault- fantastic foraging educator with great detailed fungi information he is always willing to share.https://partialveil.com/

And of course there’s us @ Free Food Foragers – running hands on mushroom and foraging courses, workshops and cooking classes every week in central Victoria. – Id put a link- but you’re already here on our site!

QLD

Belly of the World Mushrooms- Martin Martini- amazing fungi knowledge and a serious mushroom head for whom I have a lot of respect. https://www.facebook.com/bellyoftheworldmushrooms/

There are so many experienced amazing foraging educators out there, please reach out to one near you and learn from the best how to harvest safely and sustainably form mother nature’s wild bounty.

Please pick safely this season and always double check your baskets before you eat your mushrooms. Even experienced foragers can mis-pick in the frenzy of a fungi forage hunt! 🙂

Down on The Farm…

Well Foragers it’s been a long journey.

6 years since we bought the farm covered in junk and needing some love.

We’ve sacrificed our social life, finances and time to bring this vision to life and I’m so happy to say it’s almost time to open the farm gate!

New workshop space

The new home of Free Food Foragers in the heart of Harcourt will be a game changer for our family, we want to share how we live, grow, forage and cook sustainably with you all.

From hiking through cold forests in the rain early in the morning to now sitting by the wood fired stove looking out at the farm animals and the vegie garden, it’s a welcome change of venue.

I’ll still be hiking through the forest early in the morning to pick mushrooms, but our customers will have the luxury of skipping that step and going straight to the fun part – learning about mushrooms, cooking, preserving and eating them!

We will be running Farm tours, of course edible weeds and mushroom workshops, making charcuterie (smallgoods) workshops, sustainable food production and much much more.

Keep an eye out on our events pages and socials for news and upcoming events

Events 

https://www.facebook.com/freefoodforagers

https://www.instagram.com/freefoodforagers/?hl=en

Before renovations 2 years ago

Recycled French doors on!

Kitchen cabinets that were going the tip have been given a new lease of life

1st pieces of furniture are in

Wellness & Lifestyle

I just watched Apple Cider Vinegar, a new series documenting the real life journey of a wellness fraud influencer. I was fascinated as I’m sure many of you were, I was so puzzled by the scenario that I sat with a glass of vino and binged the whole thing over the last few nights. I was amazed at how someone could be so wrapped up in an online world or gratification that they let it consume their whole existence, blurring the line between reality and fiction all in the name of profit.

I think I was so shocked by this, not by the lies that were uncovered, not by the bizarre claims that cancer could be cured by healthy diet and positive energy, no that’s not what shocked me.

I was shocked by the fact that millions of people worldwide signed up for this, that people were so taken in by this idea of lifestyle that they can never attain-

Because news flash nothing you see on your screen is really how it is in reality.

I look at some of my own photos I post of foraging and think “gee that looks much better in the photos” when behind the camera is me covered in mud, sweat and with a stick or leaf or bug in my hair from traversing the bush or taming the vegie patch.

These photos right here – looks so ideal- what these photos don’t tell is how me and Oscar went to the local market to buy the sourdough and goats cheese.

That on a whim went to the mountain and I hadn’t unpacked my car from the workshop the day before, so still had the coffee maker and pan handy.

Nor does it tell that ash from the fire got in the mushrooms so it was a bit crunchy, or how 30 seconds after this photo that coffee pot fell over and almost ruined our foraged lunch, I was so looking forward to that cuppa too!

See what I mean, it looks good, but it’s not the full story.

I think we are all a little bit lost in 2025. Modern life has stripped us of our cultural connection – no matter what your origins- we exist in a global culture where shares and followers are what counts and men like Zuckerberg and Musk use us like puppets of companies all competing for our sales.

We feel drawn to those people who seem to have it all figured out, influencers and celebrities who have found that magical life hack and have got it all. This glamourous perfect life where nothing goes wrong, they have no stress, no anxiety, no depression, surround by friends and excitement.

I don’t generally look this good in real life!

Let me be the bearer of truth, IT’S NOT REAL!

Everyone has problems! To be honest the content creators, celebrities, actors, musicians, performers and life coaches I’ve met are all deeply flawed humans, as are we all. But take a moment to think about the sort of person who spends their life living for that sort of validation- is that going to be a well rounded, grounded, down to earth person? Or are they more likely to be the sort of person who seeks attention and worth from others as a means to feel accepted and special?

Yes I am well aware of the irony that I myself am a content creator, you tuber, I feed my own social media beast via stunning photos and hashtags.

However I would call myself a z grade celebrity, a hack influencer- cause I have no sponsorship deals and my influence is to go pick mushrooms in a forest.

I am an anti-influencer. I will never try to sell you anything other than a workshop to share a special experience learning with you, I don’t even have a patreon site…. although many people tell me I should.

I just prefer to spend my time outside living instead of getting engagement online.

I’m an anti-conformist, always have been- If there’s a trend or some new product I am immediately pessimistic and have my back up. I hate labels and the only ones I’ve ever been fully comfortable with is Mother and Forager- yep I’m a Mother Forager alright.

The take away here is that you shouldn’t seek your own sense of self worth in others, in style, in products, in same day delivery feel good moments of something you ordered while you couldn’t sleep cause you were doom scrolling to 2am.

I seek sense of worth it in nature- how I connect off screen, behind the screen and the difference I make in my reality. I get my validation when I meet someone who has been to one of my events and they have grown in their confidence through foraging. That connecting with their hunter gatherer instinct has changed their life and they are proud of what they have in their basket. That’s my reward.

So from this point on I have decided to be something real online- in a world of polished perfect photo shoots, manicured nails holding soil that those nails have not dug through, smoothies and detoxes and challenges to try the next new alternative superfood or treatment.

I’ve had enough of the bullshit. In true Aussie form I’m gonna tell it how it is.

I will be posting photos of the dirt under my nails, my hands stained purple after foraging elderberries, sweat covered face with no make-up or hair stylist. Real farming, real foraging, real life.

I’m not going to sell you some wonder cure, I’m going to show you the plants and fungi that grow all around us that have great health benefits, and that have changed my life for the better. I hope you resonate with this, and like me are fed up with fake facebook world.

Ingrid over n out – I’m logging off the screen and going to go play with my son, eat some plums from our trees and get my hands dirty making some clay pots. Post to come about wild clay harvesting soon.

A little Future Forager

I’ve been in hibernation, much like the mushrooms I adore.

For 4 foraging seasons, a whole year I have taken a break from public life and have been growing a little shroom of my own.

Announcing the birth of my beautiful Daughter Astrid born on Summer Solstice 2023 Both Mumma and baby are doing well and have been in a happy blissful baby bubble for 4 months!

As Summer hides away for another year; the leaves turn and the season changes to Autumn, it was time for me and my little shroom to emerge from our underground hibernation. Our other mini forager Oscar (who is now 10 if you can believe it) is the best big brother and is keen to show his little sister the ropes in the forest.

My foraging journey started when Oscar was a baby and I can’t wait to see what this new chapter of this foraging Mumma’s life has to bring. Already she has been for her 1st mushroom hunt at just a week old, with some summertime Slippery Jacks that were bigger than her head!

Taking a year off from workshops, social media and filming has been refreshing and I have cherished the quiet time with my family here on the farm. Producing amazing food to nourish our family and friends.

That being said, I am chomping at the bit to get foraging again. I had such severe foraging FOMO, for the last few months of pregnancy I couldn’t even bend down to forage and the absence of connection with the land, seasons and fellow foragers has been felt in my heart. In other words I’VE MISSED YOU ALL! I miss sharing the knowledge of wild food and the joy that it brings people, the connection and the tastes of the wild.

I have relished having a little baby again and the beautiful connection with my kids, nothing makes me happier than sharing moments foraging and farming with my babies, imparting my skills and love of finding, growing and cooking food with them.

So shortly I will be announcing a host of new workshop events, private foraging adventures and so much more…. now I’m in the mood for announcing things!

I also have an exciting new announcement for all our foraging fans. For many years I have been working towards having an educational space here on Foragers Family Farm. This has been my dream for over 8 years and I am pleased to say that we are so close to having a finished space that is really something special.

I have been renovating through my pregnancy- a different kind of nesting! So that we can finally invite all our fellow foragers and friends to experience life on the farm. Meet our animals, learn about sustainable farming and weedaculture, hosting cooking classes by the wood fire stove has been a long time coming and I can’t wait for our opening day!!!!

So that’s it from us at the farm for now, but we’re back out with the basket and hope you’ll enjoy learning about our journey as much as we enjoy sharing it with you.

Ingrid, Misha, Oscar & Astrid

MOREL HUNTING – The elusive Spring mushroom

Sought after by Chefs and Foragers a like MOREL MUSHROOMS are truly Mother Nature’s Easter egg hunt.

Everyone wants the Morel, it is held up as one of the holy grails of Australian foraging, along with Porcini, Chanterelle and of course Truffles.

So far in my foraging journey over a decade I have found all but Truffles and let’s be honest, finding wild Truffles in Australia is just not a reality…. we are not in Europe people!

It took me roughly 5 years of hunting from first hearing about these delicious morsels of Morels, asking, studying and looking, so much looking. When I finally found my first one I was beyond words. Especially considering the cost $200 per kilo!

So needless to say I was looking forward to finally cooking with Morels, I proudly arrived home basket of about 4 mushrooms in hand. This was a double miracle both finally finding them and also finding any fungi in Spring is always a rarity!

I made pasta from our chooks eggs, cooked up a beautiful creamy sauce with wild chives and Morels and served up with pride to my family.

I was so underwhelmed! I remember thinking “all that effort for this….” While the flavour was good, don’t get me wrong they are good and amazing texture and shape… but to be honest I had expected more after hearing Chefs drool about them!

It took me another 3 cook-experiments to finally find the perfect way of cooking them. Dried is fine and enhances the flavour more, but the best way is to stuff the hollow center of the Morel with cheese, dip in batter and fry until golden & crispy.

My go to recipe is Morels stuffed with wild chive infused fetta dipped in Pepperberry leaf batter – my Son Oscar devours them completely unaware he has just eaten $50 worth of gourmet mushrooms!

MOREL E-BOOK COMING SOON WITH RECIPES!

But how do I find MORELS?

& The answer from me is
” I won’t show you where but I will teach you how to find their habitat!”

Morel habitat is almost always native bushland, mossy wet areas with a perfect soil and granite rock combination seems to be a good hunting formula in my experience. However I have had some lucky foragers and Friends such as Paul (aka Speedy AKA The Spore Spreader superhero) who have had Morels pop up in their lawns or much in the backyard!

Yes we can all be a little envious of those who have Morels just pop up at their place!

I find that they dislike overgrown areas, but they do like to have shelter from other small plants such as tiny ferns and wild flowers nearby. Moss or grass is also a good sign, but actually seeing them is the really hard part. As I said they are nature’s Easter egg hunt. You could be standing on one and not even notice.

Whenever I pick them I joke that you need to look for Roo poo or witches fingers emerging from the soil, and that’s a pretty accurate visual guide in the field.

Keep in mind when you do find your 1st Morel that you need to slice is down the center and ensure it is not a false Morel by checking that it is completely hollow inside and no webbing across the middle that resembles a brain.

I am yet to find a False Morel, but with all mushroom hunting you need to know the look a like of what you are picking just in case.

Morel season starts Early August and can last until September depending on rainfall that year. This year should be great season with high rainfall in Victoria you may just find your first ever Morel too!

Happy Foraging and good luck

Ingrid and the Foraging Family

Mushroom Foraging 101

Mushroom foraging is my favourite of all foraging harvests.

This time of year is a busy one for Foragers, my inbox is filled with emails & I love the enthusiasm that fungi brings people, to be inquisitive & ask “CAN I EAT THAT?”

This activates the HUNTER GATHERER INSTINCT in all of us, we are all descendants of foragers & the urge to pick wild food runs in all of our blood.

Unfortunately the generational information that used to come with that instinct has long since gone and we are left with a dangerous lack of information about what is safe and what is not safe to eat from Mother Nature’s food store.

So I thought I would take some time to share some of that basic knowledge with you

There are RULES & RULES OF THUMB (or etiquette) to mushroom foraging

How closely you choose to follow them is up to you…

BUT I share these years of knowledge with the optimism that people will learn to do the right thing, have respect for the land & the amazing free food we are offered, without being greedy.

RULE #1 IF IN DOUBT LEAVE IT OUT

RULE #2 IF IT STAINS YELLOW OR GREEN YOU SHOULD NOT BE KEEN, If it turns blue it’s up to you, but I’m not responsible for what you do! 🙂

RULE #3 WHITE GILLS PROBABLY KILLS

RULE #4 ALWAYS DOUBLE TAP- Always double check your pick before consuming

RULE #5 BE RESPECTFUL OF THE FOREST – Treat your forest well and it will serve you well for many years to come

Harvesting Saffron Milk Caps

RULES OF THUMB

TAKE A BASKET TO EAT, TAKE A BASKET OF RUBBISH – it’s something I always try to do, as I pick a basket of mushrooms I take home with me a basket or bag of rubbish as payment for the Free Fungi supermarket!

ONLY TAKE WHAT YOU NEED – It is very exciting when you find a whole forest of mushrooms ripe for the picking, but remember to leave some for other foragers, animals and insects that also see that as tasty food.

LEAVE THE BABIES AND THE GRANDPARENTS – When you are picking try to only harvest the medium sized mushrooms, leaving the small babies – anything under a 20c coin so they can grow up and be harvested in their prime & leave the Grandparent mushrooms to spore the next generation – anything over a bread plate size.

TO CUT OR NOT TO CUT? –That is the question– my answer – is to cut, mainly so that my mushrooms in the basket aren’t covered in dirt and debris. If you cut the mushroom at the stem or if you pull out a mushroom from the ground then cut the stalk, either way it’s a matter of preference and some debate in the mycology community. I personally cut and leave the mycelium under the ground intact because that’s what I was taught to do and that’s my little ritual, but I’m equally not going to say someone else who does it differently is wrong either. You do you 🙂

ANY LITTLE BROWN MUSHROOM SMALL THAN YOUR FINGER ISN’T WORTH IT! – Most tiny mushrooms are inedible, difficult to harvest enough for a feed if they are edible or they are poisonous as all get out!

TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS – Smell your mushrooms- trust your Hunter Gatherer Instinct- if something smells or looks not quite right – trust yourself & leave it out.

IDENTIFICATION – If you don’t know what your mushroom is & are asking for identification information please keep the following in mind… Take a few photos From the top with the colour of the Cap, from underneath to show the colour of the gills and the stem, what habitat it was growing in- what trees- was it growing off of some wood or in the ground? It’s also worthwhile doing a scratch test by scratching the cap and the stem and taking photos as the flesh oxidises so see if there is a visual bruise colour change- this is not a fail safe for all mushrooms, but it helps with ID. The next step in identification, which can be quite helpful is to do a spore print test.

Spore print test– place your mushroom minus the stem on dark and light surface and leave for 24 hours to see what colour the spore turns out to be- In some mushrooms this is the difference between poisonous and edible.

Rooting Shank Spore Print

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL- IF YOU CAN PLEASE LEARN MUSHROOM FORAGING IN PERSON FROM AN EXPERIENCED FORAGER OR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR AND NEVER TRUST ONLINE IDENTIFCATION OF FB GROUPS OR FORUMS!!!!

OUR NEXT MUSHROOM WORKSHOPS

SOLD OUT Saturday 11th June 11am-1:30pm @ Taradale Mineral Springs Reserve

Saturday 18th June 11am-1:30pm @ Taradale Mineral Springs Reserve

Tickets https://www.trybooking.com/CAHCW

A day in the life of a Forager…

A day in the life of a Forager…

Today it is another cold day in the forest, you can smell the sweet damp in the air as you pick each mushroom, inhaling the exquisite aroma, this is lush, this is Winter, this is my time.

My fingers are frozen, the giant wooly coats are not just pretty for photoshoots they are a uniform for me, the only protection from nature’s test of a real forager in the mid-Winter forest she who can withstand the cold is triumphant!

With my basket, mushroom knife & stick and thermos of wild picked herbal tea I inhale the fresh air and take a moment to thank mother nature for her nourishing harvest for which we are all too grateful.

She is my life giver in so many senses, my passion, connection and grounding is the bush.

Not in the literal sense-shout out to my real life giver- you rock Mum 🙂

But Mother Nature is such an integral part of our family’s life now in a way I could have never imagined a decade ago, it’s a forager’s life for me now and there ain’t no looking back!! Although we may need to make a Foragers Anonymous meeting for me and all my fellow foraging addicts, we don’t have a problem we have a passion! 

My life and work now centers around the seasons and it’s just such an abundant mushroom season in the Goldfields of Victoria.

The wild chives are every where and the 3 cornered leeks are finally at an edible size some even with flowers already.

The Hawthorn berries are all but bare and to me this equals a foraging frenzy like no other time of the year!

This now means it’s my busiest time of year not just for work, but also for feeding my family for the rest of the year. It is a constant cycle of basket after basket of mushrooms being cleaned and processed to be dried, cooked, preserved and stored for the rest of the year.

This is how we have not had to buy mushrooms for over 7 years now. When its summer and dry we have beautiful dehydrated wild mushrooms that in some cases taste even better when they’ve been dried.

It’s also a time when a lot of people who don’t normally forage all of a sudden pick up a basket, put on some boots and get into nature, and for some a fire for foraging is ignited within them, hopefully along with a real fire at this time of year ‘cause it’s real cold!’

It’s also a time of year I find myself baffled and pleading again for people not to eat mushrooms they don’t know and please find a local mushroom expert to confirm in person what you are about to eat rather than rely on online identification.

Mushroom hunting is a dangerous first time foraging sport, and your life is on the line if you are not an experienced mushroom hunter, nothing and I mean nothing substitutes first hand knowledge and years of it!

So please if you are a novice mushroom forager, attend a local course or workshop or ask around for your local mushroom person to identify in the flesh that you have the correct mushroom.

OR better yet come along to one of my workshops and I can teach you how to identify edible mushrooms, beyond a shadow of a doubt for yourself!

Check out our events page for information about our current events, You can also book in for a private tour or why not a gift card for a mushroom foraging friend?

But please be carful out there, I would highly recommend hitting the mushroom books at your local library or joining some facebook identification groups it’s a great source of area specific fungi information.

Happy Foraging

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Forays into Nature’s Pantry

via Forays into Nature’s Pantry

Purple Nudist Hunting

Lepista Nuda. The elusive Wood Blewit or as we here at FFF call them ‘the purple nudists’

Purple Nudist mushrooms pictured with a few orange saffron milk cap mushrooms.

The best mushroom on the planet if you ask fungi guide Ingrid Button “it’s what I would order as my last meal, they’re that good ”
They are a very tricky mushroom to find and even ID but a purple gilled mushroom that smells like flowers and tastes like heaven is worth it!!

So on Saturday a bunch of brave Foragers joined us at the historic and beautiful Taradale Mineral Springs Reserve to graduate our class and become certified Purple Nudist Hunters. Complete with their own diploma of purple nudist mushroom hunting!

We taught the hunters how to read the Bush for the nudists specific habitat, and evryone at the end of the day had hunted down their first Purple Nudist!!! And we even found some saffrons and slipperys along the way!

We devoured taste testers of creamy wood blewit and native chive sauce on freshly baked homemade dock seed foraged bread. With a cooking demonstration of how to make it too, all washed down with native river mint and wild herb tea with a bit of honey!

Massive thanks to the great class who braved the sun showers and were rewarded with baskets of mushrooms and even a rainbow!

Tour guide & Wild Food Expert Ingrid Button catching a rainbow with a cuppa in the other hand, now that’s multitasking (thanks to Mandy Pitt for the great photo!)

Along the trail Ingrid found a few specimens of wild food and shared her knowledge on a few plants

Plantain used in the bread, great source of protein and vitamins.

It’s leaves are also a great first aid bush remedy to stop bleeding and aid healing. Not to mention a great addition to dried teas especially in the winter months to help keep cold and flu away, along with stinging nettles which are in season now.

Ingrid harvesting Nettles on Mass

We also had dock seed in the bread as the main flour which is a great GF alternative and packed full of nutrients

Up close of dried dock seed head in Summer & Autumn

We also had the fortune of finding some St. John’s Wort springing back to life with new leaves everywhere

St John’s Wort flowering in Spring / Summer

Congratulations to all our newly graduated Purple Nudist Hunters my you hunt many purple mushrooms that will make you groan out loud they’re so delicous!

Now that’s a story to tell and a certificate to proudly say “I am a purple nudist hunter”

One of the graduates Jeff Montgomery has made a great suggestion to make t-shirts ‘I am a Purple Nudist Hunter’ and we here at Free Food Foragers absolutely love the idea of that!!!

Special thanks to Jane Mallick a Taradale local for sharing a few bit of local knowledge on the walk.

HAPPY mushie hunting!

A 2nd Autumn Afternoon Session of Edible Fungi and Foraging Workshop

After a sellout first tour we’re happy to announce another one for anyone who missed out!

The 2nd of the Season’s Autumn Afternoon Sessions with Wild Food Guide – Ingrid Button.

Escape the daily grind with a weekend experience to really brag about on Monday morning at beautiful Mount Franklin Reserve – just 5 minutes out of Daylesford.(1HR drive from Melbourne)
Mount Franklin is an ancient in-active volcano covered with European style forest in full Autumnal splendor. You will enjoy an authentic campfire gourmet foraging and edible fungi educational experience.

Tour includes a short walk around the forest to identify wild food sources hands on, learn how to identify the free food all
around us.
Also included is a taste tester of gourmet foraged food, wild herbal honey tea to warm you up on an autumn afternoon and a cooking demonstration on the campfire.

Spaces for this unique experience are limited, so book your tickets quickly to avoid disappointment.

Tickets $30 per person
https://www.trybooking.com/VZQE
1-2pm signs and bunting around campsite on the day.
Sensible footwear, water and warm clothing is advised along with notebook if so inclined.

For more information feel free to contact the team: freefoodforgagers@gmail.com