Hi I'm Matt and I own and operate Eden Wild Food. I have been foraging in some form since I was a child, and took inspiration from the herbalists and foragers in my mother’s family. My Great Great Grandmother Annie Tallet was a prominent herbalist and healer in the Midlands (UK) for many years. I have been collecting and using wild food in earnest for over a decade and as my knowledge developed I realised that I wanted to share that passion with others.
I started teaching some courses to friends at first and then it just expanded from there and Eden Wild Food was established in 2010. I offer both introductory and longer 'half day' courses, as well as private courses, and tailored courses for children. I tend to run public courses from May to October depending on the seasons.
I cover most areas of Wisconsin running regular courses in the Fox Valley and and NE Wisconsin, one off courses further afield, and am available nationwide for special bookings.
I have worked with some top chefs, appeared in several national publications in the UK, and have appeared on TV teaching foraging for the BBC as well as on Wisconsin Public television.
Since moving to Wisconsin I have run courses for Samuel Thayers company Foragers Harvest, worked with the Oneida Community Education centre on a year long foraging program, become a foray leader for the Wisconsin Mycological Society, and am now the only person to be a certified mushroom expert in these 3 states Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota (Wisconsin doesn't currently have a certification system)
I also run the largest and and most active wild food group in the area on facebook, Wild Food Wisconsin.
Testimonials.
"Eden Wild Food, providers of a quality service. Having approached Eden Wild Food's founder, Matthew, to arrange a foraging course for students at Glyndwr University, he was all too keen to come on board with the idea.
The university has many policies and procedures in place to regulate whom is allowed to put on demonstrations and talks, and has several criteria that businesses must meet before allowing them to work with students. Matthew was happy to work with the university to make sure all regulations would be adhered to, and we ended up with a well managed, perfectly executed course around the university grounds that was enjoyed by all. I can't thank Eden Wild Food enough for this experience, and we hope to have them back in the near future. - Stephanie Smith, on behalf of Glyndwr University
"I have been on many courses and guided walks with Eden Wild Food ,and have found them to be all so different, all enjoyable, and no two courses are ever the same. You never know what you are going to find. Matthew is always encouraging you to look at what is growing, in your local towns and villages. On his courses he explains what plants and herbs are edible and what are medicinal etc that the season has to offer.
Matthew has an exceptional Knowledge and great experience, which is down to his passion for foraging and his keen interest in cooking and food.
Some courses i have done with my family , I have boys age 10 , 7 and 3 , and since going on guided walks my children really have found a new appreciation for there environment and notice far more now . They are like little sponges , and quickly absorb all the new information about trees , and plants and herbs. On one recent wild walk with Matthew , they gathered up sweet chestnuts and took them home and we roasted them and they ate them this was a great experience for them. They enjoyed learning about the different trees in the woods and all the things growing round them , we found many variety's of mushrooms and my 10 year old found a perfect oyster mushroom which was ID'd for us by Matthew. He was very proud of that." - Tracy-Jane Fielding
"We really enjoyed the private foraging course in our local village of Marbury, Matt was incredibly informative and opened our eyes to the huge array of herbs,seeds and fruits available to be foraged on our doorstep. His passion and knowledge on the subject made it a very enjoyable experience for the whole group of all ages" - Matt Page
"Had a brilliant forage with Matt, I learned lots and lots of new edibles, leaves and a couple of mushrooms which was just what I wanted to know about. He showed me how to identify them and where and when best to find them. He has a brilliant depth of knowledge and easily answered all my questions! Even post course he has helped me to identify things I've found via facebook, which has helped my foraging journey greatly!" - Sam Webster
"Our foraging experience with Matthew was very interesting. Myself and my mum Laura took the course with me thinking of possibly carrying on the experience with the Rainbow unit I run. We were intreagued on finding out what foraging was all about. Matthew is very experienced and has lots of knowledge and understanding on wild plants, trees and all types of mushrooms. Matthew is very friendly and we would reccommend him to anyone adults, families and any youth group like girlguiding and scouts. Overall a fab day. Thank you Matthew for the opportunity to discover things we never knew before, the experience has opened our eyes to what is edible in our local countryside." - Donna and Laura Garlick.