On our coastal course you will learn to identify, prepare and cook the edible plants, seaweeds and shellfish of the cliff top and shoreline as well as try your hand at some sea fishing and fish cookery. 

                                                                           During the course we will be foraging along the cliff tops around Staithes, teaching you to identify the wild food plants of this beautiful piece of coastline.  We will also be exploring the foreshore at low tide to find shellfish and seaweeds that we can harvest for food.  This intertidal area might yield anything from Laver bread to Velvet swimmer crabs and it is here at low tide where we will set long lines across the gullies and put down our crab traps.

As well as foraging on foot we will be heading out to sea with our Skipper and fishing tutor Sean Baxter on his boat ‘All my sons’.  Sean has been fishing for the last 40 years and has a wealth of experience from around the globe, having worked in the fishing industry in far flung destinations like Vanuatu in the South Pacific and the great lakes of Africa.

On board you will be given instruction in how to haul, bait and ‘shoot’ lobster pots and then further out to sea you’ll learn about fishing with a traditional rod and Scarborough reel.  Our aim is to catch a good variety of fish and shell fish so that we can taste some things we’ve never tried before.

Of course you get to eat all that we forage and catch, but don’t worry!  This weekend is as much about eating as it is about foraging and we will be cooking together to produce a wide range of great dishes with the help of our chef and course tutor Chris.  Nobody loses weight on this course!

Coastal foraging courses in 2010 will be based in the beautiful village of Staithes on the North Yorkshire Coast. Accommodation will be in a traditional cottage, just metres from the shoreline. The cottage is comprised of five double and twin rooms and prices are per person based on two sharing, although we will make every effort to accommodate single bookings. The course price includes tuition, fishing trips, use of equipment and cottage accommodation with all meals (cooked together as part of the course). It does not include drinks or local parking charges.

The minimum age for this course is 12 years and under 16's must be accompanied by an adult. Places are limited to 8 per course.

 Bad weather policy.  If our boat trips are cancelled due to bad weather you will be automatically offered a £20.00 Taste the wild course voucher and your own filleting knife to take away or a £20.00 cash refund. There will be an alternative programme which could include fishing from the land, extra shoreline foraging sessions with experts Chris and Sean and visits to the local fish and shellfish merchants.  The decision to cancel the boat trips will be solely at the skipper’s discretion and will be final.