Sip & Stroll: The Meadow Sessions

You may have heard of forest bathing.

The Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, simply being present in nature, breathing it in, letting the senses engage, is now backed by decades of research. It lowers cortisol. It calms the nervous system. It restores the parts of the brain exhausted by screens, stress and over-thinking.

But forests aren’t the only places this happens.

We’d like to introduce you to meadow bathing.

Our wild meadow is pretty special because it’s one of the 3% of wild flower meadows left in the UK - since the 1930’s. A living working water meadow ecosystem, where dozens of species of medicinal plants grow each year.

When you walk through the meadow at golden hour, you are not just taking a pleasant evening stroll. You are stepping into one of the rarest habitats in Britain. You are breathing the volatile oils of plants that have been used therapeutically for thousands of years. You are doing something your nervous system is designed to appreciate - something it’s been waiting for.

Two hours. That’s all it takes.

An Evening at Brookside Farm in our organic wildflower herb meadow.

Step out of the noise and into the calm.

This July we invite you to come and experience the positive effects of two hours of Botanical immersion.

Let the simple and powerful act of reconnecting with the land work its magic on you with a small group of equally curious people.

The Sip: Garden-to-Glass Alchemy

With a chilled, copper distilled botanical mocktail in your hand, you will get to meet and greet the plants in your glass.  We craft our ingredients from organic herbs harvested and preserved using ancient heritage techniques to capture the living essence of the plants you are drinking.

What’s included: 

• The Sip: A pre-mocktail tasting of our signature botanical blends - Calm, Clarity and Courage - followed by a delicous expertly crafted mocktail.

• The Stroll: A guided walk through the meadow, woodland and food forest down mown paths, stopping by some of our favourite herb heroes and sharing their stories and soaking up the happy hormones of the trees to a soundtrack of evening birdsong.

• Expert herbal knowledge: A fun, beginner-friendly guide to the wild plants growing outside your doorstep; their main beneficial properties and how you can prepare and use them at home.

• The Takeaway: a 30ml bottle of your choice of Calm, Clarity or Courage, and a freshly picked bunch of aromatic herbs to dry (or plant) at home for your own herbal teas.

• What the researchers say: 

  “We don’t experience natural environments enough to realise how restored they can make us feel.”

  Florence Williams, The Nature Fix

  “The land knows you, even when you are lost.”

  Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

Details:

• When: Thursday Evening, 7.00pm-9.00pm
• Where: Brookside Farm, Gaydon Road, Southam, Warwickshire, CV47 2QZ
• Tickets: £35 per person

And if there’s inclement weather….

The Lore: Meeting the Rebels

Step inside our working apothecary to meet Bella, Bertha, and Bessie - our traditional hand made copper stills. Over our homegrown handcrafted  mocktails, we’ll share the story of our inspiration: Nicholas Culpeper, the 17th Century “rebel herbalist” who fought to keep plant knowledge in the hands of the people, and breathe in the heady fragrance of the lush herbs in the Greenhouse.

A wood burning stove and cosy sitting room awaits for you to meet like-minded souls and discover more secrets and stories of the herbs growing in your local parks and countryside.