A Taste of the Country: Dorset - Season 1

In the first episode, Julius starts the day feeding his adorable bottle-fed lamb and goats Bramble and Hazel, followed by cooking up delicious breakfast of pan-fried asparagus and poached egg on toast with freshly laid eggs. Later, he ropes in his brothers Jocelyn and Lucian to help fix fencing and move his rams to a new area on the smallholding.

In this episode, Julius is foraging in the woods, shearing his flock of sheep and cooking beans cowboy-style on his smallholding in Dorset. Julius takes us on an emotional and fun journey as he heads into the woods beside the farmhouse to forage for cherries just like his beloved granny showed him when he was a small boy. Then, he's dusting down the cookbook she left him to make her delicious cherry frangipane tart with fabulous plump fruit and sharing the trick to making foolproof simple shortcrust pastry before tucking into a slice with a big dollop of crème fraiche with his brother Jocelyn. Then, in his ramshackle greenhouse, he's got basil-growing tips covered, from the best way to keep a shop-bought plant thriving to planting and growing your own basil seeds. Next, he's heading to the garden to pick herbs that will take an incredible herby egg mayo sandwich to the next level, and sharing the secret to whipping up easy homemade classic mayo. He's really encouraging people to have a go and, after this, there'll be no turning back to shop-bought, since it's so simple and achievable. Finally, there's one of the biggest jobs of the summer to tackle and a lot of hard work ahead gathering his sheep for their annual shearing. His brother Jocelyn and local friend and shepherdess Angie are helping. She's bringing along her old sheepdog, who surprises everyone as he triumphs in the meadow, gathering up Julius's flock against the odds. Next day they're joined by sheep shearer Edward, and Julius is trying his hand at rolling up fleeces. With all the sheep sheared, there's a delicious lunch of fire pit baked beans for the hardworking shearing crew, complete with an offer from the shearer to give Julius's hair a trim!

Julius faces one of his trickiest tasks - trimming his goats' toenails, so his brother Lucian pitches in to help in return for an epic picnic lunch. Julius also goes fishing with a new friend - chef Mark Hix, who is at the helm of his boat heading down the coast.

It's harvest time on Julius Robert's smallholding in the country, with some amazing eats and his own spin on delicious classics from pasta to pudding. The adventure begins with Julius heading up the hill behind the farm and foraging for beautiful wild flowers and herbs to hang up in his ramshackle greenhouse and dry for the winter. Then he's cooking amazing spicy Dorset clams al fresco in the greenhouse for a casual solo supper. It's a Spanish-inspired dish, with tarragon and dry sherry taking it to the next level. In the garden, he's picking courgettes, one of his favourite things to grow and eat, and turning a glut into a heavenly sauce for courgette pasta to go with his incredible quick home-made pasta dough. Julius shares great ideas for different pasta shapes — cavatelli, trofie, orecchiette and pici — which he's using in the recipe. It's another case of ‘you won't believe how easy it is to make'. On the farm, it's time for Julius to free his chicks and mother hens from the coop to roam free and, much to his amusement, the cockerel who has missed the hens is wasting no time getting frisky. Then there's one of the biggest summer tasks on the smallholding: hay harvest. Neighbouring farmers Eddie, Richard and Gemma have been guiding and helping with the harvest, cutting, turning and baling the hay, and now they're coming over to help Julius and his family gather up the bales ready for winter. Great friendship and support deserve a special treat: Julius makes everyone the legendary Italian pudding tiramisu that he first ate as a child in Florence, which they eat as they relax in the hay meadow with the work done and the sun setting, washed down with chilled local beer.

Julius invites new friend and beekeeper Mark over to his smallholding to check on a hive of bees he rescued from his roof. Later, Julius builds a wood-fired pizza oven with the help of his friend and builder Adam and his son Rowan, before making a nduja, honey and mozzarella pizza.

Julius Robert's first summer on his Dorset smallholding comes to an end with scallop diving and a fire pit cook-out with a boat crew, learning the trick to fermenting chilli sauce that's perfect on a crisp rosti, and barbequing the wild way at a glorious feast for friends and family.