There is so much to discover, if you know where to look, and that is exactly what the Happy Forager plans to do later this summer.

Dan Massey, who is the man behind the business, wants to spread his enjoyment and love of foraging.

He will be at the Midsomer Norton market this coming Saturday selling some of those foraged foods, along with promoting what he refers to as: " My happy, quiet and beautiful life as a forager."

He is already booked up for private foraging courses, but he hopes to get more people interested in finding their food from the hedgerows, fields and greenery around them.

So Foraging - it seems quite the thing?

"It is definitely a growing passion for a lot of people - since lockdown especially. People have become to much more aware of their surroundings. So they are going out into the wild and they want to know about what they see and whether they can eat it. Foraging is a old-age interest. It is a very personal thing to me and I want to spread that knowledge to other people."

Dan, who was born in Stoke St Michael is passionate about his local environment, and now lives in Writhlington from where he sets out on his foraging forays.

He started as a trained engineer, but didn't find enjoyment and fulfilment so he moved into working with vulnerable children and young adults with learning difficulties.

"That was very hard emotionally and then through my family I started to learn more about foraging. I had always been foraging, but I began to properly study what I was seeing, and the business grew from there. I started supplying what I had foraged then to companies around the UK, supplied a lot of things to high end restaurants London who wanted specific ingredients.

"Put simply, I was making money from dirt. But then lockdown happened and I decided to bring my business back more locally. Now I just want to share my knowledge of foraging and to tell everyone who is willing to listen - try foraging, its wonderful to be outdoors, it is beneficial to public health, beneficial to nature and good for you."

So what is the legal status of foraging?

" If you see a plant you can pick it, as long as you don't uproot things, like nettles ; with thousands and thousands of them, you will not get into trouble for picking them, or hedge garlic. But rarer plants you must gain permissions from the landowners.

" I have lots of permissions from a broad range of landowners and even then I never take loads of a plant. I wont just pick something because someone wants it . I simply won't supply it. Some less ethical companies will go in and take 100 kilos of a plant, flog it and then walk away. That's not right.

"To enable me to market wild food commercially on any level land owners' permission is needed. Having gained those means I can market some of the ingredients I will be offering at the Somerset Farmers Markets.

"I am trying to build myself a sustainable life from foraging basically in the best way I can."

What plants might the general public not know about ?

" You have things like Bath asparagus (also known as Spiked Star of Bethlehem) and only found locally, that's a very niche plant but it should be protected and I won't pick it. For me the foraging side is aimed more towards teaching people than actual making money on a commercial level. It's not where I want to go. Selling big quantities off to high end restaurants, that is not satisfying. I have gained so much enjoyment from foraging and for me that is more about the enjoyment than making money."

At the Somerset Farmers Markets you will be selling the idea of foraging walks and mushrooms?

" I love mushrooms I could talk about them all day every day. They are the biggest living organism in the world. They have all the answers. They are my passion. Things like Chaga a very hard fungus which grows on Silver Birch trees, which it is said can be used to aid the treatment of cancer, Lion's Mane which is again a protected mushroom, but you can farm it. That is proven to help with brain function.

" Generally wild food is the best food for you. Sea beet is a the mother plant of what we would know as spinach, and it is so good for you. The are the original plant and so totally pure."

How sustainable is Dan's own life?

" About 80 per cent of my food comes from foraging. I have my own chickens, and my own eggs. I am passionate about local food, local producers local suppliers and food miles.

" Our society is so used to having that orange in a fruit bowl that has travelled thousands of miles and being able to buy one for 12 months of the year. But we have home grown plants that could give us the same nutrients and food would not need to travel across the world

" I feel very strongly about how people shop. The big supermarkets are solely run on profit they are not worried about the quality or where the food has come from. How many people know you can turn dandelion roots into coffee? You can do so much more than give the big companies loads of money. That's my message, get people interested in staying local, buying local, finding local produce.

"I have nothing against other people's businesses big or small - however I think we need to change the way we eat and we need to know where our food comes from. "

You can find out more about Dan The Happy Forager and how to contact him, on our local listing.