Foraging & Fizz in the New Forest
THE PIG | Wednesday 3 September 2025Join us for an outdoor foraging adventure… with a twist! Think picking seasonal goodies in the heart of the New Forest National Park, digging into an al-fresco PIG lunch – and sipping on a brand-new English sparkling wine that you can’t get your hands on anywhere else!
£120 per person
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Making the very best of homegrown produce from local soil, gathering with fantastic company to feast over the finished dishes, and opening a cracking bottle of wine to wash it all down with… well, that’s exactly what heading to THE PIG is all about.
We truly love nothing more than creating simple, seasonal and hearty recipes we know you’ll love, with a little help from the best farmers, fishermen and foragers we know. That’s why we’re teaming up with filmmaker, wild food forager, and New Forest local, Tom Radford, for a unique foraging walk in the woods, followed by a generous outdoor PIG lunch (using your fresh pickings!) at our original PIG in Brockenhurst.
Join us at our house, where we’ll warmly welcome you in with a hot drink, a friendly introduction to Tom and a private Kitchen Garden Tour with THE PIG team, where you’ll pick your own produce fresh from our veg beds that will help create your PIG lunch in our Garden Oven later that afternoon.
You’ll then head out on a forest foraging adventure with Tom who will help you identify what’s edible (and what’s not!), what’s medicinal and what can even be used as ingredients in soaps and cosmetics. You will you get a fascinating insight into your foraged fare as you walk, while Tom will share the folklore surrounding wild plants and mushrooms, as well as the landscape and history of the area – so you can really connect your fresh pickings with the past.
The best part? When you arrive back at THE PIG we’ll have a glass of incredibly special English fizz waiting for you from our great friends at Castlewood Vineyard. Our Forage & Fizz experience will be the first time it has ever been poured in a restaurant (you’ll be getting the very first peek!) so get it while you can!
When, where, how much…
When?
Wednesday 3rd September 2025, 9.00am – 2.00pm
Where?
How much?
£120 for a full morning foraging in the forest, just a stone’s throw away from THE PIG, with an outdoor PIG buffet lunch at our outdoor Garden Oven.
What’s included?
A welcome hot drink when you arrive at THE PIG.
Private Kitchen Garden Tour with THE PIG team.
Two-hours of a guided foraging walk and talk in the New Forest with Tom Radford.
A glass of English fizz (Artefact, Vintage Sparkling, 1996), waiting for you on your return to THE PIG.
A freshly prepared lunch of flatbreads (topped with your pickings from the Kitchen Garden that morning) and plentiful homegrown sides in the outdoor Garden Oven, with a glass of PIG Cut wine or a Pentire non-alcoholic cocktail.
What to bring with you
Comfortable shoes are a must and, while we hope the British weather will be on our side, we suggest wearing something suitable for all eventualities… just in case!
What you could be picking
There are so many edible plants and fungi to be discovered in September – here’s a flavour of what you might find on the New Forest floor:
- Sloe Berries to make sloe gin, jams & jellies
- Rosehips rich in Vitamin C and traditionally used to make rosehip syrup.
- Beefsteak Fungus beautiful bright red edible mushrooms (they look like little pieces of meat!).
- Oyster mushrooms are one of our absolute favourite ingredients at THE PIG and we use them in all kinds of dishes – we love them baked in risottos, sautéed in winter salads or even chopped in mustard or red wine sauces to pair perfectly with game.
- Blackberries can be used as a tasty ingredient in autumn salads. They also make a fantastic addition to a cheeseboard!
A little heads up…
While we will always do our best to give you the best foraging experience, foraging goodies are never certain until near the time – it depends on things like weather and wildlife to name a few… but it’s all part of the adventure!
Much closer to the time, we’ll have a better idea of what fantastic fungi are out there and where we can find them. So, you may be asked to drive to a nearby location, which will be revealed on the day. Don’t worry – the drive will be no more than 10 minutes.
What we’ll be pouring…
Castlewood Vineyard have been on our wine lists ever since THE PIG first opened its doors in 2011 – a family-run vineyard in Devonshire owned by winemaker Rob Corbett. We’re huge fans of Castlewood’s English fizz (you’ll always find it listed on our wine menus and chilling on ice behind our bars).
Our very own PIG Group Beverage Director, Luke Harbor, has supported Rob for over five vintages at Castlewood Vineyard – and this sparked a collaboration between them to create Artefact wine in 2019. The first tasting took place in 2022 and just under 1,000 special bottles of this still English wine was made, packed with notes of blood orange, almond blossom and red pepper.
Rob and Luke are continuing to experiment, develop and create – and the bottle we’ll be pouring for you is the latest project form the Artefact family. It’s incredibly special, very rare and you’ll be the one of the first to try it: Artefact, Vintage Sparkling, 1996.
Meet your guides
Tom Radford
Tom Radford is from the New Forest, and is truly passionate about foraging, wild, local and sustainable food. Tom runs foraging walks all over the UK and is a keen cook and advocate of sourcing and serving wild meat and game.
His channel @EatTheCountry takes a wry and light-hearted approach to wild food and foraging – after all, laughter is the best path to good learning!
Castlewood Vineyard
From 2006 - 2009, Castlewood Vineyard emerged from a south-facing Devon hillside overlooking the river Axe. This steady progression enabled traditional sparkling wine varieties to be trialled and planted.
Run by owner and winemaker, Rob Corbett, over three quarters of the vineyard is represented by Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Each is responsible for Castlewood’s vintage sparkling wines and non-classic varietals represent the rest, providing fruit for blending and developing Reserve and NV sparkling wines.
Luke Harbor
Luke Harbor, Group Beverage Director at THE PIG, has been named a 2025 Acorn Award winner by The Caterer, recognizing 30 of the UK’s most promising hospitality professionals under 30. Luke’s journey began humbly at Combe House as a porter.
Moving through roles, from Assistant Head Sommelier at Combe to Head Sommelier, including planting the vineyard at THE PIG-in the South Downs and began pursuing his Master of Wine. Eventually, Luke became Head of Wine overseeing nine hotels, and now Group Beverage Director.
