It’s strange. When I write about cars, I sort of know what I’m talking about. I know what understeer is and what a carburettor does. But I didn’t know anything about farming. Literally nothing at all. Here I was then, the Sunday Times farming expert, and I could not tell barley from wheat, let alone how you made them grow. Nor did I know what rape was used for.

After watching the hit show on Amazon, I decided to purchase the book to see what the fuss was all about and I had a great time reading it. Filled with humorous anecdotes, the book follows Season 1 at Clarkson’s Farm and rehashes a little bit what we’ve seen on the show, with a bit of extra flair and drama. (To justify the purchase price)

Many people were surprised by this, as to be a farmer you need to be a vet, an untangler of red tape, an agronomist, a mechanic, an entrepreneur, a gambler, a weather forecaster, a salesman, a labourer and an accountant. And I am none of those things.

I loved the book. As a non-farmer but wanna-be gardener, I took great pleasure in learning I’m not the only one who doesn’t know when things ought to be planted and the writing style looks easy to follow and enjoy.

Faced with suffocating red tape, biblical weather, local objections, a global pandemic and his own frankly staggering ignorance of how to ‘do farming’, Jeremy soon realises that turning the farm around is going to take more than splashing out on a massive tractor.

Fortunately, there’s help at hand from a large and (mostly) willing team, including girlfriend Lisa, Kaleb the Tractor Driver, Cheerful Charlie, Ellen the Shepherd and Gerald, his Head of Security and Dry Stone Waller.