About Sarah

Forager and course leader, Sarah Watson
Sarah Watson, Wild Feast foraging guide
By photographer Beth Steddon, www.bethsteddon.com

Hello! I run Wild Feast and have taught foraging since 2013 ~ I love sharing my passion for using wild food to create delicious dishes and drinks. Previous jobs include field studies teacher, sustainable business adviser, communications officer for the High Weald team, and I’m very proud to have co-founded the Hastings Seafood & Wine Festival. Now, I enjoying sharing my wild food knowledge with others.

I grew up in the Sussex countryside identifying wild plants with my botanist father, swathes of pretty lady’s smock and clouds of scented meadowsweet flowers. My mum had country wines blipping away in the shed, and my dad cooked up giant puffballs and lawyer’s wig mushrooms which I devoured with relish! Since then, I’ve foraged hundreds of species of British wild edible plants, seaweeds and fungi, using them in wild food dishes, wild cocktails and mocktails.

Partners
I’ve had the pleasure to work with many different partners over the years. I was recently filmed foraging with Marcus Wareing for his Tales from a Kitchen Garden series on BBC2. I’ve held workshops for Kew at Wakehurst and guided walks for the National Trust, English Heritage, Hastings Council and Royal Tunbridge Wells. I’m the author of the ‘Bartender’s Guide to Foraging’ series for global drinks website, Difford’s Guideand have written a wild food column for The Brighton Argus. And I’ve enjoyed giving demos at events including Brighton Foodies Festival, Fantastic British Food Festivals and Great Dixter Fair.

Sustainable foraging
Careful foraging is a wonderful way to bring us into closer contact with nature. I’m as fanatical about protecting our precious wildlife as I am about foraging and food, and I teach how to forage in a way that’s respectful to nature. See the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland’s (BSBI) code of conduct.  I’m also a member of Sussex Wildlife Trust, The Woodland Trust and Butterfly Conservation.
Credentials
My Biology degree included Botany, Ecology and Conservation, giving me a sound basis for foraging safely and responsibly. I’ve trained in plant identification with the Field Studies Council and the BSBI. I have an MSc. in Rural & Regional Resources Planning (University of Aberdeen). Plus:

  • Proud member of the Association of Foragers, which promotes sustainability and ecological stewardship.
  • PTLLS teaching & training qualification
  • Emergency First Aid at Work
  • Last food hygiene rating: 5
  • Food Safety Level 2 qualification+
  • Public and products liability insurance
  • Basic catering training (BIIAB)

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