The farm was formerly part of the Sarsden estate in Oxfordshire. Jeremy Clarkson bought about a thousand acres (4km 2) in 2008, including Curdle Hill Farm. The fields were mostly arable, growing a rotation of barley, rapeseed and wheat. These were farmed on a contract basis by a local villager named Howard until his retirement in 2019. Clarkson then decided to attempt the challenge of farming the land himself. [6] The farm has 300 acres which are set aside from crop farming. The DEFRA subsidy scheme requires these meadows to be mown annually and so Clarkson decides to get a herd of sheep. He buys 78 North Country Mules at auction and finds that they are difficult to control, even with an electric fence and barking drone. After trouble with lameness and the complexity of breeding with his rams, Leonardo and Wayne, he recruits Ellen to be the farm's shepherd.

Diddly Squat – A Year on the Farm is the companion book to the first series of Clarkson’s Farm, and like the series, it follows Jeremy Clarkson as he stumbles through learning how to actually be a farmer in his famous, bumbling ‘I’m a complete idiot,’ style. Clarkson finds himself, like all farmers, up against the vagaries of the British weather. It’s too hot, it’s too cold. It’s too dry, it’s too wet. He battles red tape, new regulations, and the devastating damage Brexit has caused to farming. The Government, and the exhausting, continuous hard work just to try and make a living from the soil. Härra Clarkson annab kõigile lootust, et tee mis sa teed, aga huumor aitab igast jamast läbi. Ta on ühte aegu eeskuju ja samas täielik ristivastand sõnale "eeskuju". Pealehakkamist on vaja, püsivust ja aega.The farming way of life... I can’t describe it to anyone. I love my life. I am very, very happy and I don’t understand why anyone would want to go to London and stay in London, but that’s completely up to them," says Kaleb who, in the programme, shares a story of the one time he did go to London but stayed on the bus because he found it too busy. Alex said: "It was in this spirit of positive vibes that I drove the two and a bit hours from Yorkshire to the Cotswolds to see what it's really like on Diddly Squat Farm. And what I found was that in a lot of ways it's very different to what you see on - and there's a few bits of smoke and mirrors, some of which came as a definite surprise." The restaurant also offers a “tiny VIP room”, which serves complementary sparkling wine to those who book the room. Opening hours of the Diddly Squat farm restaurant is Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 10pm.

You can book your place at the Diddly Squat farm restaurant on OpenTable, but only tables of four can currently be booked. The booking is also currently restricted to times between Thursday, July 14 and Sunday, July 17, however more slots should be available soon. Clarkson's Farm shop was not staffed by Lisa Hogan (Image: Alex Evans) The Diddly Squat Farm Shop sign is cardboard Another thing never shown on camera is the sets of signs that adorn the side of the lambing shed to give messages to people queueing for the bustling farm shop.

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Olivia Midgley (21 May 2021), "Sheepdog drone and OSR 'nightmare' - first glimpse of Jeremy Clarkson's farm", Farmer's Guardian