The Best Time For Foraging Walks In Devon, Wiltshire, Somerset & Beyond

The Best Times To Go Foraging

Having guided many foraging walks in the Somerset area, people commonly ask me when the best time of year is to go foraging. Really, the answer is, every Season presents opportunities! It depends on what you're looking to forage. Nature has cycles, and if you tap into those cycles, foraging does not just become more abundant; it also becomes more energised, nutrient-rich, and rewarding.

Plants, you see, are ingenious. They move the focus of their energy around where they need it throughout the year to survive and prosper. In the winter, when the surface appears quiet and seemingly motionless, the focus of the plant's energy goes deep into the roots. This dormancy makes winter the very best time to harvest roots — they’re dense, strong, and packed with stored goodness, often holding the most medicinal power at this stage.

As the days get longer and spring approaches, that energy begins to rise. It flows up through the roots and into new shoots and leaves. This is why spring is such a magical time of year for foraging. New leaves are young, tender, and full of life and energy, perfect for eating fresh and using as a source of wellbeing.

Think of spring greens as the plant’s first big stretch after winter: everything is concentrated, alive, and bursting with potential. On my foraging walks around Somerset, this is the season where people really light up. There’s something special about gathering wild spring leaves together — tasting them, learning their stories, and reconnecting with that sense of renewal. It’s often when people realise foraging isn’t about taking from nature, but moving with it.

As the seasons move from spring to summer, the plant cycle changes again. Energy is now directed to the flowers, making them bold, beautiful, and often fragrant. This is a great time to collect flowers for teas, salads, decorating salads and cakes, or just enjoying their beauty. Later in the year, when summer has turned to autumn, this energy will be directed to the fruit and seeds. Autumn is the time of plenty, particularly when it comes to berries. The hedgerows are laden with their bounty, an ideal time to collect them for syrups, preserves, and medicine making.

However, not all plants will follow this cycle exactly. Each plant has its own unique personality and rhythm, and dandelions are a case in point, often flowering early compared to many others. This is more a guide to what to expect rather than a hard-and-fast rule, to give us an idea of what is available at different times of the year. By late autumn, the cycle is ready to start again gently. The leaves fall, the energy sinks downwards, and the roots prepare for winter.

To forage well is to have a sense of timing, respect, and attention to what we are doing. If we take the right part of the plant at the right time, we are respecting the cycle of the plant, and in return, we receive the very best of what the plant has to offer.

If you're new to foraging, or would love to learn more about what the coming Season has to offer, join us on one of our guided foraging walks in Somerset this Spring. There are four dates available currently around Frome, a beautiful location for discovering nature's gifts. Spaces fill up quickly, but our walk in May at Vallis Vale still has availability.

If you're not available on those dates or would like a more curated service designed especially for a walk with your friend group, a birthday party, work social or some other special occasion, consider booking one of our tailored foraging walks today. There are many fantastic opportunities for foraging walks around Devon, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol and beyond! Reach out to me on 07923542523 or message contact@hejgro.co.uk today.