Welcome
to Foraging Scotland

The hub for wild food tours in Dumfries and Galloway.

Join mushroom tour guide Jesse Beaman for a guided fungi walk in the forest park and discover the delicious variety of Scottish wild food.

Two of the most sought after wild mushrooms in their natural woodland habitat.

next in the foraging calendar...

Foraging Scotland is run by astronomy tour guide, mycology enthusiast and forager Jesse Beaman.

Based in Dumfries and Galloway, we offer a variety of seasonal guided fungi walks in and around the Galloway Forest Park.

Check out our range of events, book a private fungi walk, or contact us for more information.

who we are

A group of mushroom hunters during a guided walk in 2022

A mountain of penny buns discovered in scotland during a foraging walk.

A group of foragers leaving New Galloway woods after a guided fungi walk with Jesse Beaman.

Beautiful, juicy summer raspberries foraged in Galloway.

Stunning ghostly Porcelain Fungus growing on a Beech Tree

Baby Auryn very pleased with himself after finding his first haul of wood blewits in the forest.

A Scottish Chanterelle in perfect condition for frying up with wine, garlic and butter.

A group of foragers on a recent guided fungi walks in the Galloway Forest Park.

The kids finding Ceps in Dalbeattie Town Wood before a guided foraging walk.

IMG_3206.Porcini holds so much flavour and preserves very well, and the powder adds a huge amount of flavour to sauces, soups and broths.

Winter Chanterelles starting to grown in the Forest of South West Scotland.

A striking but foul smelling stinkhorn mushroom in the Galloway woods.

A cluster of Leccinum scabrum mushrooms spotted during a foraging excursion.

The first of several edible fungi spotted during a guided fungi walk in the Autumn of 2022.

Golden chanterelles for the pot collected in late Autumn.

One of the most sought after mushrooms, hen of the woods, found last Autumn.

We found several honey fungus clusters during a tour in Dalbeattie, Scotland.

Admiring an impressive haul of ceps on a beautiful sunny summer's day.

Two penny buns in perfect condition, ready for the BBQ.

Jesse found this monstrous and beautiful amethyst deceiver in the Galloway Forest Park.

The Saffron Milk Cap is one of the most highly prized of the edible mushrooms, growing with mature pine forest.

Courtney admiring the Saffron Milk Caps she spotted.

A very photogenic pair of Leccinum versipelle mushrooms.

Possible the most beautiful mushroom families; the Wax Caps are good bioindicators of healthy British meadow.

A cluster of Cantharellys ciberius growing by a forest river

“...passionate and knowledgeable about fungi and helping others to share your passion and knowledge."

Anonymous, Galloway

Why Forage?

Foraging, particularly fungi, is undergoing a renaissance. Collecting and cooking mushrooms is a delicious, rewarding and empowering activity.

Spending time in nature enormously increases wellbeing, and wild mushrooms also provide an abundance of health benefits. Edible fungi boast high levels of vitamins D and B, copper, selenium, antioxidants, protein, whilst being low in carbohydrate and fats. Not to mention the range of complex umami flavours; nutty, buttery, cheesy, fruity, umami to name just a few.

In the modern World it can be hard to pinpoint exactly where our food has come from, what's been added or removed, and how far it has travelled. Now compare that to a short walk or drive to your local mushroom habitat and the fact that you're physically picking your own food straight from the wild.

Foraging doesn't come without its' controversy. Horror stories of incorrect identification leading to poisoning or death are often brought up if I'm caught in the act of a fungi forage. I'd need more fingers and toes to count the times I've been pick shamed with comments such as "you should have left them in the ground," or "it's a shame you picked so much." With a bit of education it's possible to understand why pick shaming is almost always unjustified, and also to understand how to correctly and safely identify and consume the tastiest and most prevalent edible fungi.

See you in the woods!

Jesse

A scarlette wax cap on the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Highlands

A fresh bowl full of parmesan wild fungi pasta

What to eat?

It's hard to beat wild mushrooms on toast, fried with butter, garlic and wine. But here's a few examples of Jesse's wild fungi dishes from the summer of 2022.