Foundational Ethnobotany – Level 3

Overview

The use of plants for food, medicine and craft goes back millennia and continues to be relevant today. Much of this knowledge has been passed down through oral traditions from a time when people relied on their own skills for nourishment, healthcare and everyday needs. One of the cornerstones of bushcraft is the ability to recognise and utilise the plants and trees of your surroundings. Beyond the woods, this knowledge enriches daily life by deepening our relationship with the natural world.

This course focuses on developing the ability to identify a wide range of plants and trees and to understand their uses in craft, food, medicine, navigation and bushcraft. Students will not only learn about plants but also put this knowledge into practice through experimentation and application. Over the training period, participants will work from a master list covering between eighty and one hundred species. The programme is delivered over five days, including a short assessment that includes plant and tree identification tests and a written paper. The assessment is optional.

Course Content

The training covers plant and tree identification, including recognising common poisonous species and understanding the effects of their chemical constituents. Students will explore the nutritional value of wild foods, discover alternatives to pharmaceutical medicines and learn about the traditional uses of individual plants in areas such as bushcraft and natural navigation. Practical sessions include simple treatments for minor illnesses, the use of herbs for first aid, harvesting methods, and the preparation of herbal medicines.

Your learning is brought to life through hands-on experience. You’ll discover how plants can provide fire, cordage and nourishment in the wild, and how traditional knowledge transforms simple materials into essential tools. Along the way, you’ll experiment with wild foods, try out time-tested techniques, and deepen your awareness of the landscape. Folklore and plant stories are woven throughout the course, adding a sense of tradition and adventure to the practical learning.

Fees

The cost of this course is £550 per person.

Catering

Please note this is a self catered course and camping is optional.

Details

As part of the course, we’ll spend time outdoors on field trips. This may involve walking for extended periods on uneven ground and being in areas without regular toilet facilities, so a reasonable level of fitness and preparedness is recommended. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please feel free to get in touch.

This programme is led by John Rhyder.

Bookings

Please read the below information before booking.

Terms & Conditions – by booking on to our courses you agree to our Terms & Conditions
The Course Kit List

Please note this is a self catered course and although it is non residential you are welcome to camp at our site if you prefer. There will be some travel to other venues although we will endeavour to car share as much as possible.

NB: Camping is not integral to this programme, it is something we offer for the convenience of our students it is not part of the course fee. With this in mind please be aware that should you choose to stay on site you will be expected to help with the small tasks, that facilitate the smooth running of the camp.

COURSE DATES 2026

Date: 29 July - 2 August 2026
Location: Near Midhurst, West Sussex
Start time: 8.30am (you can arrive the night before)
Finish time: 5.00 pm each day
Course leader: John Rhyder
Course size: 12 (maximum)
Cost per person: £550 (deposit £100)

7 Places

Places required:

Payment Amount:

Certification

The award level is set at level 3 by using national benchmarks. should you choose to attend the assessment Successful candidates will receive the Certificate in Foundational Ethnobotany from the NCFE who we will be using to underscore the quality of this programme. In addition we also provide a Woodcraft School certificate.

Levels

The level of our programmes implies the degree of work needed to be done by the student to achieve certification. Our awards are set at level 3 and 4 this does not imply that levels below these benchmarks are needed prior to joining a course. Guidelines as to the complexity of the levels can be found here.

Assessment

The assessment process consists of identification tests and observations of practical tasks including preparation on plant remedies and experimentation with wild foods. The plant and tree identification tests are carried out in the last afternoon of the training period.

It is possible to take the training element of this course and not the assessment in which case a certificate of attendance is offered.

COURSE REVIEWS

I recently undertook the week long Course with the Woodcraft School and it was one of my most enjoyable outdoor experiences. We easily covered over a hundred plants in a very practical and informative way, the instructors really make you feel at ease. If you do this course – the stroll in the park or wood, the walk by the river, will never be the same again. You will never look at another plant the way you did previous to this course as you will have the knowledge to identify the plant and know its uses.

Michael McGrath

If there is anything about plants and Nature that John doesn’t know, then it is probably not worth knowing. An excellent and balanced course for beginners and experts alike. The perfect blend of information and practicality. The walks and filed trips were magnificent and second to none. From a personal viewpoint as a bit of a ‘townie’, the course has given me a much greater understanding of the multitude of herbs that lie both in a simple path border as well as more forested areas, and their multiple uses for both food and medicine.

David Jamilly

What a brilliant course! We identified nearly 100 species of wild plants, learning about their uses in food and traditional medicine. We collected, cooked and ate many of the wild plants and prepared various herbal remedies. On my return, I took my dog to our local park in South London and on that one walk was able to identify 20 of the plant species that we had learnt on the course. Admittedly it’s a very large park which includes about 50 acres of ancient woodland. I am a Duke of Edinburgh Award leader and have been able to share much of my knowledge from both courses with the students.

Nigel Sharma

I started the week with an interest in herbal medicine, but no knowledge, and ended it with the ability to identify a number of different plants and their edible and medicinal properties. John and Tim have an incredible knowledge, and their enthusiasm is infectious. The beauty of the this course, is that you don’t only learn about the uses of plants that grow all around us, but the evenings spent around the campfire learning, chatting and laughing with a group of people from different backgrounds all with a love of plants and nature, really adds to the whole experience.

Maria Johnson

The learning curve was quite phenomenal: we covered about one-hundred species! And the nice thing was that we got to experiment with lots of them: we cooked wild meals, we prepared tinctures, and we made macerations, decoctions and ointments. Over five days, we saw new plants, we were encouraged to go out and find them and harvest them. Throughout the course, John and Tim were very helpful and made sure that we were getting all the essentials, as well as having a clear idea of what was required for the final days assessment which provided an excellent way of reinforcing what we had learned and gauging what were our next key steps. We all left with heaps of enthusiasm and really keen to continue learning more! A highly recommended course.

Francisco J Gutierrez

Had the most fantastic week with such an amazing group of people..really bonded! The course run by both John Rhyder and Tim Lane was of an outstanding standard! We covered around 90-100 plants and their uses. Cooked and ate so many wild foods , I can’t wait to replicate them here. How to prepare medicinal plants in all forms. So much more! The late night camp fire conversation was as hilarious as it was to the highest degree intellectually stimulating. We banged the world to rights and had the ideas to solve it. Every one of them a genuine inspiration and absolute pleasure to know!

Rebecca Macuighlin

My appreciation of wildflowers and medicinal plants has increased exponentially on this course. The course was run in a relaxed way with each person able to work at their own pace with all the support needed, even when Woundwort didn’t appear to be in the woods at all! There was an interesting practical side to the course making natural medicines from the plants we gathered, in the form of tinctures, balms and macerations. The humour and banter in the group was the cherry on the top of an excellent week of study and fun. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this course to anyone with an interest in plants.

Paul Mialzzo

This was such an amazing experience for me, I am disabled with my hips been bad, and John and Tim were very helpful and understanding about my situation which made the course even better, it was parked full of information they are both a fountain of knowledge and certainly know what they are talking about! Also the other course members where really helpful in assisting me in many different ways, carrying my gear etc I feel I have not just gained my advanced level 3 but some really good friends! I would highly recommend John and Tim from the woodcraft school!! Thanks for the memories!