Jim from Forage Box

What is your name and what is the name of your business?

My name is Jim and my business is Forage Box.

Where are you based and what do you do?

We are a national company but our HQ is just outside Kendal – Cumbria is our heartland!

On the very first day that the station opened, we ran a foraging workshop at their lovely venue and continue to offer a variety of different courses ever since! Our aim is to teach people how to forage for wild ingredients that can be found all around us in hedgerows, woodlands, parks and beyond.

Why this career?

The trajectory of foraging in my life has been from hobby to passion to lifestyle to career and all of these still apply. It is the best job in the world (my office is the great outdoors) so as soon as it looked possible to earn a living from it there was nothing else I was ever going to do and I love sharing my knowledge with others.

What is your favourite part of the job?

Historically, I would have said earning a living doing my passion and engaging with plants and mushrooms every day and this remains a huge part of what I do.

But the teaching and sharing of my knowledge is something I have grown to love. Seeing people and their excitement as they become more aware of what can be found and seeing them fizzing with inspiration is what excites me most now. It must be similar to how a comedian feels after a gig goes down well with the audience.

Are you launching anything new in 2025?

Aside from our growing number of locations and tutors which is increasing our nationwide network, we are due to launch an online guide that aims to be the most comprehensive available on the internet. We are already considered to have the widest reach of any UK foraging business and have superb reviews so the online guide will complement those and match the quality we deliver on our courses.