Internationally renowned chef Simon Rogan is recognised as one of the pioneers of the farm-to-table movement. Just a mile away from his Michelin-starred Cartmel restaurants L’Enclume and Aulis is Our Farm where growers and chefs work side-by-side to produce a varied supply of organic and seasonal ingredients.
On a few select dates throughout the summer, visitors have the unique opportunity to experience the journey from planting out to plating up with A Day at Our Farm. During an immersive farm walk, snacks are served at strategic places along the route, showcasing seasonal produce from the relevant beds. Following the tour, with its canapés and non-alcoholic cocktails, guests share a delicious al-fresco feast cooked and served by Our Farm Head Chef Liam Fitzpatrick. On departure, they also receive a Simon Rogan hamper.
Lancashire Life had the opportunity to visit in early July.
Not many culinary experiences begin with everyone enjoying a drink and examining a composting system, but that’s where we found ourselves at the start of the informative farm tour - and with good reason.
Returning food waste from the group’s Lake District restaurants (L’Enclume, Aulis, Rogan & Co, Simon Rogan at Home, and Henrock) back to the farm to create high quality compost closes the loop on the food production process, and gives the team complete control over every stage of the cycle. Investment in these innovative composters means a resource that would otherwise be wasted, now helps fresh ingredients to flourish.
And flourish they do, in this picturesque and well-tended environment. The small, specialist team at Our Farm share an obvious passion for the produce cultivated and nurtured here and their extensive knowledge is evident. A team of just six operate the four-acre site, pulling in volunteers and restaurant staff to assist with any major harvests.
During our visit, Farm Supervisor Adam Frickle shared his knowledge about successive planting, interplanting, and sustainable harvesting. Several allotmenteers on the tour were delighted to be going home with a wealth of new ideas and solutions to problems they’d faced for years. Adam also gave an insight into how the growing conditions are tailored to suit Simon Rogan’s preferences, including staggering the planting of charlotte and jazzy potatoes and planting more per pot than usual, to ensure a consistent supply of tiny potatoes packed with flavour.
It’s obvious that it’s a mutual partnership between chefs and growers. When asked ‘which comes first, the menu or the planting?’ Adam explains that it’s a bit of both: ‘There are weekly meetings, and the chefs will sit down with the farm manager in autumn to review the season. There will be a crop plan, with a view to creating certain dishes but there’s always some flexibility. Some things we may have planted only as a trial crop but then when we’ve shown them to Simon they’ve proved really successful and versatile, so we’ll grow far more of it the following season to keep it consistently available.’
Tackling waste is a key part of the ethos here, demonstrated in part by the excess cardboard laid down as a natural weed suppressant. And space is at a premium, so each plant variety must earn its keep. Humble broad bean plants provide four separate crops – the young leaves are stripped to make oil, the fresh tips of the plants are used as edible garnish, same goes for the flowers when they’re in bloom, and finally the broad bean itself is harvested.
It’s an approach you hear time and time again as you move around the farm; every part of each carefully grown plant is used to its full potential.
And if it can’t be used immediately, it becomes the responsibility of Head Chef Liam who is affectionately known as the ‘Pickle Prince’ thanks to his dedication to preserving, pickling and fermenting seasonal crops for future use.
One of the most surprising snacks that Liam created for the tour was radishes ‘growing’ in a plant pot of delicious malt soil with lovage emulsion. A thoroughly surreal experience to be eating from a plant pot, while learning about the radishes growing in a decidedly similar looking raised bed.
After a mouth-watering lunch, guests come away from the whole experience full of delicious food and fresh ideas.
There are a small number of spaces remaining in September to enjoy this one-of-a-kind dining adventure: A day at Our Farm.
Simonrogan.co.uk
READ MORE: Extra dates added to Simon Rogan's Our Farm experience
