In this powerful episode, host Robin Harford welcomes Hannah-May Batley, founder of Hedge School, to discuss her groundbreaking work in plant-based healing and community regeneration.

Hannah-May shares her journey from a post-mining community in South Yorkshire to creating a unique curriculum that addresses trauma, particularly sexual violence against women, through reconnection with nature.

She explains how foraging, wild food, and traditional plant knowledge can be powerful tools for recovery and resilience.

Highlights Include

• The origins of Hedge School and its impact on post-mining communities
• How plant-based practices can aid in sexual violence recovery
• The intersection of class, land rights, and healing
• Personal insights into nature as an anchor during dark times

This episode offers a sensitive yet hopeful exploration of how returning to our roots - literally and figuratively - can pave the way for profound healing and community restoration.

Don't miss this inspiring conversation about the transformative power of our connection to plants and place.

Rape Crisis Resources

• Rape Crisis- England & Wales
• Survivors Network
• Rasac

Recommended Books

• Women Who Run With The Wolves
• The Sun & Her Flowers
• The Body Keeps The Score
• Girlhood
• Caliban & The Witch

About Hannah-May Batley

Hannah-May is an unruly educator & the founder of Hedge School, a school that seeks to recover, reconnect & restore our relationship with kith & kin through plant-work, traditional skills & unruly education. 

She would describe herself as a woman deeply interested in the human relationship with plants, minerals & mark-making. Hannah-may teaches foraging, community herbalism, wild food, how to forage & process wild pigments & botanical inks, preservation methods & folk medicine.

She is a writer with work published in several UK journals & magazines & is currently working on her first book. Hannah-May is a member of the Society of Ethnobotanist & Pigments Revealed International. She specialises in working with community trauma, taking plant-work into marginalised communities.

Connect With Hannah-May Batley

Instagram: Woman of the Hedge
Instagram: Hannah-May Batley
Substack: Root and Rock
Website: HedgeSchool.co.uk

Back Matter

Follow me (Robin Harford), for the latest updates and insights around foraging and wild food on Substack, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

If you're ready to uncover the secrets of Britain and Northern Europe's wild plants, grab a copy of my bestselling foraging book. Inside, you'll learn how to safely harvest and thrive on nature's bounty.

Embark on a journey through 48 essential wild plants, all beautifully illustrated in full colour. Rediscover the forgotten wisdom of our ancestors and revive our ancestral heritage. Get your copy today and start your foraging journey!