Grounded is a new collaborative event series that explores the relationship between landscape, producers, farmers and the food we eat.

The new series of events explores the relationship between landscape, producers, farmers, and the food we eat, launching this September with a day that brings that relationship to life.

Across the year, the series will bring together the people who grow and raise our food with the chefs and restaurants who put it on the plate, showing how good farming and good cooking depend on each other, and on the land itself.

The first instalment is a collaboration between Strickley Farm and The Black Bull, Sedbergh, and centres on the Robinson family, six generations of whom have farmed Strickley, a 300-acre organic dairy farm on the edge of the Lake District. Free from artificial fertilisers and pesticides for the past 20 years, Strickley is a working example of regenerative, nature-friendly farming: seven miles of ancient hedgerow, wildflower hay meadows home to over 100 species, fenced watercourses to protect water quality, and herds of native Dairy Shorthorn cattle producing milk that's pasteurised and bottled on the farm itself.

Guests will spend the day walking that landscape with the family who shaped it, before sitting down to two meals that showcase what it produces: first lunch by the farm's lake, then dinner back at The Three Hares, Sedbergh.

The day is hosted by James Robinson, Strickley's farmer and chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network England, alongside the wider Robinson family, and Nina Matsunaga, award-winning chef of The Black Bull, Sedbergh, who leads the cooking throughout the day.

James Ratcliffe, co-owner of The Black Bull, Sedbergh, said: ''Supporting farms like Strickley isn't a nice-to-have for us; it's central to how we think about the business. James and the Robinson family have spent generations proving that farming can work with the land rather than against it, and that approach shapes everything that ends up on our plates. As restaurants, we can't talk seriously about sustainability if we don't know exactly where our food comes from and how it was produced. Grounded is our chance to put that relationship on full display, to let guests walk the fields, meet the family, and taste the direct result of regenerative farming done properly. The environment isn't separate from what we do in the kitchen; it's the foundation of it.''

Tickets

• Tour, Lunch & Dinner £120 per person
• Tour, Lunch, Dinner & Stay at The Black Bull, Sedbergh, for two people, including breakfast from £350 per couple

About Strickley Farm

Strickley has been in the Robinson family for over 150 years, and its approach to farming has been shaped as much by what's good for nature as what's good for the herd:

• Hedgerows are left to grow tall, some 20–22ft, and managed on a traditional 20–25-year rotation, creating a mosaic of ages that shelters far more wildlife than a uniform hedge line ever could. They also act as corridors, letting bats, hawks, red-listed tree sparrows, and other species that depend on them move safely between habitats.
• Watercourses have been fenced off to keep cattle back from the banks, improving water quality and helping to slow and store water during flood events, protecting homes and businesses downstream.
• Multi-species swards, including clovers, chicory, and plantain, are planted to fix minerals into the soil and support the insects, pollinators, and birds.
• Regular soil testing keeps nutrient levels right for both livestock and wildlife, without artificial inputs.
• Renaturalised becks and new wetlands have created pools, bends, and gravel beds that didn't exist a generation ago.

The result is a farm that's been recognised nationally for this work, winning the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group Silver Lapwing Award, one where, as the Robinsons put it, the cows and the nature around them are cared for in equal measure.

To book, click here; alternatively, to reserve a place, contact The Black Bull directly by email bookings@theblackbullsedbergh.co.uk or by calling 015396 20264.