On the Farm

From Delia to Michael Palin, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to Alan Titchmarsh, David Attenborough to Jamie Oliver, the TV tie-ins that sell books are those with charismatic presenters. When you meet Jimmy you'll realise that this is television's big new name. With his PhD in Entomology and his infectious enthusiasm, Jimmy has the academic weight of David Attenborough and the populist persuasiveness of Jamie Oliver (who happens to be his oldest friend). Jimmy's Farm will be a 6-part primetime BBC TV series for autumn 2004 in which we follow Jimmy realising his dream of setting up a unique farm with rare breed pigs. Unlike Hugh F-W who plays at being a smallholder, Jimmy has to face the commercial reality of farming today: this is his living - it has to work. And in the same way that Jamie Oliver inspired a new generation to love good food, Jimmy will inspire us to care about where our food comes from. Through the programme you'll learn how to grow your own vegetables, keep chickens and pick the best pork at the butchers. There will also be a directory of farmers' markets and recipes for hedgerow cooking, But the book is also about living the dream and turning your back on mass-product