About Rachel Lambert BA, MA, IBMTdip

Forager, Wild Food Tutor, Writer, Cook.

Teaching foraging since 2007.

I came to foraging late in life, well, in my early twenties; I was introduced to a small plant growing in a wall with a thirst-quenching taste and I was hooked. Having done little more than pick blackberries on country trips with my family, being introduced to foraging brought together many things I loved; walking, nature, plants, food, the senses, nature awareness and creative cooking. Although perhaps my twenty-year-old self wouldn't have been able to articulate it quite like that - I just loved it.

The role of foraging in my life then fell relatively dormant, grabbing wild moments when I could in Asia, London and the outskirts of Bristol. It wasn't until over 10 years later and living in Cornwall, that I reacquainted myself with the edible plants in fields, hedges and on beaches.

In 2007, having scoured hedgerows, books, and courses, I felt I knew enough to start sharing it with others. I have always loved teaching, and through evolving careers (community food and nutrition, environmental education, outdoor playwork, and arts and crafts practitioner) I have always found a way to facilitate learning. Since these organic beginnings, I have taught thousands of people and published two books on foraging and cooking.

In-between all of this, and emerging from illness and a serious accident with a tree, in 2006 I also embarked on a 4 year diploma training in Somatics (soma means to experience the body from within) and started to explore nature awareness in parallel to this and my foraging. This has resulted in the Nature and Body Retreat Days that I now offer.

For me, foraging is many things, athough in essence it's a fun and enlivening way to enjoy and appreciate the environment, access fresh and seasonal food, provide an excuse for outdoor adventures, as well as offering quirky and labour of love investigations in the kitchen.

If foraging has any appeal to you I encourage you to do it (safely), follow what you love and what gives you pleasure. Let's enjoy the nature of being human and living in this wonderful, imperfectly perfect world.