Catch up TV

Series 2: Episode 14

Marcus Wareing explores new possibilities for his smallholding in East Sussex. After doing some essential repairs, he gets the digger out as he’s keen to start cultivating an area of his land called the Bund. He wants to plant a hedgerow for the wildlife out of tree seedlings, so he drafts in gardening friends Rosanna and Signe to help. They advise him on the best way to plant up the small trees to ensure they grow healthily.\n\nAfter a short coffee break, Marcus heads over to Mersea Island in Essex to go crabbing with commercial fishermen Andrew and Jonny French. He’s used to cooking crabs in his kitchen, but this is the first time he’s seen them fished. After a good time at sea, the day’s topped off with a chance for Marcus to taste some of the freshly caught and cooked crab.\n\nBack at the farm, Marcus is concerned about his apple orchard. While it has produced a great deal of fruit, he is concerned some of the trees are dying, so he wants to learn how to preserve the remaining ones. He visits Britain’s National Fruit Collection at Brogdale Farm in Kent, where he meets Dave, an expert in grafting fruit trees. He discovers that one of the secrets to a successful graft is to have good root stock.\n\nA call from his tenant farmer Stuart takes Marcus back to the farm to help give the sheep a health check to see if they’re fit for mating. As a homage to his fishing trip earlier in the day, Marcus makes grilled crab and brown crab meat pate for himself and his wife Jane.

Source: BBC 2