​Rewilding Us
Mushroom Foraging Courses Sussex & Surrey
About Fungi
The mushroom foraging course's are our most popular course's. The course's is run in the Autumn when fungi season is in full swing as we will expect to find a healthy variety and abundance of edible and medicinal fungi. Not only will we get to find fungi, we'll also be learning about the ecosystems they thrive in, some wonderful information to take with you on the rest of your journey.
​
Fungi are organisms that assist nature in the process of decomposition. Unlike erosion, which is the decomposition of matter by natural forces, fungi are living organisms that rapidly increase the rate of the decomposition of matter, making nutrients that would be locked up for centuries available for reuse by other organisms in a much shorter time frame.
​
The types of fungi a forager focuses on have relationships with trees and with the soil, sometimes both simultaneously. Saprobic fungi thrive on dead or dyeing wood and many only have the ability to decompose specific species of tree, therefore the fruiting bodies, which are the fungal structures eaten by foragers, are only found on these specific trees in very specific habitats.
Mychorrizhal fungi have a symbiotic relationship with trees, they benefit one another by exchanging products used for metabolisation, often one cannot live without the other. Many of the mychorrizal fungi also have a relationship with soils and can only be found with specific trees that are growing in specific soil types.
​
Habitats
We run our fungi foraging courses in habitats with both trees and soil conditions that are optimal for fungal activity. A lot of habitat research is carried out to find and understand soil and environmental conditions at the habitats we use. I've spent over a decade working with natural environments and developed a healthy understanding of soil and environmental sciences.
​
If it is fungi that fascinates you most about foraging, seasonality is one factor that plays a role in the appearance of fungi, some species grow all year round, we are usually sure to encounter some great edibles on our seasonal foraging courses as well.
​
