River Cottage Collection [DVD]

Ordered this, enjoyed watching. Delivery quicker than told, nice surprise

For those of us who live increasingly urban lives, who long to get back to the land but who have no current choice to do so, the River Cottage series is our 'place in the country'. We can pop the DVD in, sit back on the sofa and pretend we're in rural Dorset for a couple of hours.Although he tends to be horribly scripted, Hugh F-W guides us through lots of country tasks that we'll probably never have the chance to do (assisting with a lamb birth, for example) and plenty that we may - sowing a few vegetable seeds in the back garden, perhaps. Even in the heart of the city we can try his recipes, if we can source some of the 'forgotten' delicacies he uses.As well has hours of the usual River Cottage fare, this DVD collection contains 'A Cook on the Wild Side', which follows Hugh on his summer holidays, trying to live off the land, which is informative and entertaining. You also get 'The River Cottage Treatment', which aims to re-educated townies in the reality of real food - which can be a little bit distressing if you're of a sensitive nature.All-in-all this is a great boxset and well worth the investment, but it does generate a certain amount of disappointment if you'd really like to live this life, but can't.

Whether you wish to call Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall a journalist, cook, smallholder, entrepreneur of story teller, after viewing the River Cottage Box Set one could argue that he trancends every one of these traits in one way or another throughout the three volumes.Fearnley-Whittingstall takes you through a journey, starting at the beginning where he purchases his first two pigs, some chickens and plots out his vegtable garden, to the end of his experiment at down sizing where the series ends with Hugh posessing a thriving polytunnel, pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens and numerous amusing tales of his journey from being a 'city downsizer' to an established 'dorset smallholder'.The 3 series' all include amusing anecdotes about Hugh's relationship wih his animals to even the smallest critters such as mice and slugs. It also provides great information about animal walfare and cooking (with some great recipies included) and conveys a great sense of nostalgia and takes one back to the 'Great Britain' era where food was sourced locally and there was a great sense of community.After viewing the River Cottage Box Set it would be naive to assume that Hugh's smallholding operated soley down to his quaint bartering technique but it does provide an intrinsically warming and a humerous approach to the idyllic, country life and asks questions of the quality of food the general public consume. Overall this Box Set comes highly recommended, is well worth the money and highly compulsive.

The idea of the escape from the corporate driven rat-race is quite appealing. The series makes interesting viewing, but I feel there are a few shortcomings in order to make it really realistic...To really make it out there (without needing to rely heavily on the system he is trying to escape) he would realistically spend a lot more time working the land and tending his flocks. The emphasis is too much on socialising and cooking, and whilst the main ingredient in his dishes is always something local, a lot of the other stuff going into some of the recipes was obvoiusly outsourced.The small veg patch he has will definitely not keep him in constant supply throughout the year, and to survive winter he would have had to produce large quantities for preserving and canning. Furthermore he would have to cut and store large amounts of firewood for winter, or spend a fortune on electricity for heating.Unless he really works at alternatives to energy, he would still be the same slave to paying bills as he was in the city...albeit on a much reduced income (unless he has a hidden stash or inheritance - which defeats the objective).Some of his "mystic" sloutions - like getting a mouse charmer to help him get rid of the mice plague may work in a movie, but really won't cut it out there.Superficially it is very entertaining to watch, but it is clear that this series was produced as realistic looking entertainment, and not the real deal. For anybody wishing to learn more about self sufficiency, rather find something else. Though I think it is also full of flaws, the Frontier House series (USA) is a far better realistic view for the self-supporter.

This series is amazing, I first watched an episode of River Cottage on Sky, was at home with a friend zapping through numerous channels and landed on this, my friend insisted it was a brilliant TV show and we should watch the episode.My friend is not into cooking that much so it got me interested!Anyhow the stories, the recipes and the adventure got me hooked, i had to buy them.I have watched the two first seasons and i love it, kind of makes me dream of a house in the coutryside, although i guess a lot of aspects of self-sufficiency are not covered he looks at the food side of things with a lot of attention.The only negative i have about his show is that he uses railway sleepers in his vegetable garden, most of those are full of chemicals and really should not be used for that purpose!Anyway I highly recommend this DVD Boxset, watch it, love it and live it! :-)