Pigs in Clover

The true (and often funny) story of one couple’s adventurous move from life in the city to running a smallholding in the Devonshire countryside.

"As of this moment in time, nobody has died, nobody has given birth and nobody has escaped. All 57 pigs, 18 sheep, 46 chickens, two ducks, two geese (the terrorists of the chicken field), two wild cats, two horses, four goslings, two goats and a one-eyed sheepdog. All where they should be. But it wasn’t always like this ..."

This is the true story of a Londoner who gives up his job as an estate agent in the city, moves to the wilds of Exmoor, starts a smallholding and becomes self-sufficient, with a few bumps along the way.

Simon’s journey from urbanite to self-sufficient smallholder is brimming with incidents – some funny and some tragic – leading him to question Mother Nature, himself, the food he eats, and his role in it all. Which makes the transition from city life to self-sufficient smallholder slow, emotional and, for him, often confusing, but it is also beautiful, warming and laugh-out-loud funny.

So if you would like to spend time with an accidental smallholder who completely changed one drunken night in Devon, then join Simon, his wife and their extended family as they learn the truth of what it takes to live a self-sufficient life, before eventually becoming as happy as the proverbial pigs in clover.

Simon Dawson gave up his job as an estate agent in London and moved to Exmoor with his wife Debbie over a decade ago. In 2007 and 2008 the couple appeared with Gary Rhodes and Michael Caines on Local Food Heroes, coming first for the South-West. Since then he has appeared on BBC1’s Countryfile and Sky1 and is in constant demand on local radio. He runs courses on smallholding, butchery, food processing and nose-to-tail eating; works as a journalist and broadcaster; and looks after countless pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs and horses on their land. His first book The Self-Sufficiency Bible was published by Watkins in 2009.