In this season, Matthew poses a currently novel question, What does what I eat, eat? From what his animals graze on to the earth his fruit and vegetables grow out of, he turns to the soil. It’s something we take for granted.

If you have the right fertilisers, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and water, you get food. Such a simple equation produces the bulk of our food – but at a price: weak soil which is vulnerable to drought & weeds and food that is more vulnerable to pests. All of which amounts to less nutritious and less tasty food.

Matthew’s challenge now is to leave his land in a better condition than what he found it for future generations by embarking on various projects from digging swales to trap water, companion planting, and crop rotation. And in his usual refrain, he wonders, How hard can it be?