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Private Notes
Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn return to their farm in Shropshire. There's harvesting to be done before Christmas, and mince pies to be made.
The team tackle restoring the forge, and Ruth makes remedies for typical winter ailments and gets advice from Christmas cracker historian Peter Kimpton.
Christmas is coming to Acton Scott, but first there's preparation to do. Ruth Goodman and Ivan Day try their hand at making a Christmas pudding.
The team move into a Victorian smallholding on the Acton Scott estate that has not been used in nearly half a century. Their first task is the restoration of the cottage. As incoming tenants, they help thresh the previous summer's wheat crop, their first experience of steam-powered machinery. Alex attempts to sow a wheat crop using horse-power. Ruth and Peter install a range in the cottage and take a trip to the canals to load up on coal. It's time for the apple harvest so Alex and Peter turn their hand to making cider. Ruth explores the challenges of Victorian cooking by making preserves ready for winter and cooks her first meal on the range. And the team must learn shepherding skills the hard way as the first livestock arrive on the farm - a flock of Shropshire ewes.
As autumn ends, winterproofing begins in earnest: essential work if the livestock and crops are to make it through the cold and frost. The team stock up on animal feed using a host of Victorian machinery. Peter faces his biggest challenge so far: building pigsties. Ruth tackles the laundry, a gruelling four-day process that Victorians tackled weekly. The ram arrives on the farm; ensuring he gets the ewes pregnant is the only way to produce lambs in the spring. The team take delivery of a Shire horse. There is a traditional Victorian Christmas to look forward to, including decorations, cookery and church carols. They celebrate Christmas Day with the friends they have made over the past four months.
New Year arrives and the farm needs emergency repairs. So the team go back to DIY basics, with the help of the woodsman, the blacksmith and the basket maker. Ruth has a go at some traditional potions and remedies. When the wheat crop comes under attack, it is time for some pest control, Victorian style, as Alex and Peter join a pheasant hunt. Alex goes out catching rabbits with a team of Victorian poachers. And with spring around the corner, the first baby animals are ready to be born.
It is spring and there are lambs and pigs to be delivered - which means Alex and Peter need to master animal midwifery. A prized ewe is in danger and a lame horse may jeopardise vital work on the farm. The team turns to Victorian science in a bid to save their struggling crops. If they succeed, they will have something to celebrate at the May Day fair. If they fail, all their hard work will have been in vain. It is make or break time on the Victorian Farm.
In this episode, the team embarks on a trip by steam train, Ruth begins a tough task in the dairy, Alex tries his hand at beekeeping, the sheep get sheared using the latest time-saving technology, and the lengthening summer days allow Alex and Peter to try out the new Victorian sport of cricket. It is also time for the hay harvest, weather permitting.
The team's year on the farm is coming to an end. But first they have to bring in the wheat harvest, the most crucial part of the Victorian Farm calendar. Alex and Peter must get to grips with a contraption that was state-of-the-art technology in Victorian times, the reaper binder. Ruth explores the craft of straw plaiting and discovers the art of printing. The boys try their hand at a home brew. The team bring in the wheat harvest with the help of some extra labour, and celebrate with a raucous harvest festival.
