A midlife plot twist doesn’t have to look like a crisis. It can look like soil under your nails, bread you milled yourself, and a dinner you can trace back to land you actually know.

In this episode, I sit down with BBC journalist Max Cotton, who spent an entire year eating and drinking only what he could grow or raise on his small farm in South West England. What began as a one-man protest became a deeply human exploration of resilience, reconnection, and a slower, more intentional way of living.

Max helps reframe self-sufficiency—not as an extreme lifestyle or purity test, but as a spectrum anyone can step onto. Together, we explore how agency expands when you choose seasonal food, shorten supply chains, and build relationships with the people behind your milk, meat, and vegetables. We move beyond headlines about cows and climate, digging into soil health, regenerative grazing, and how herbivores on diverse pastures can actually store carbon rather than release it.

Max shares the whole journey: the surprises, the melons that worked, the wheat that didn’t, the fat, the time, the learning curve. He offers deeply practical advice for beginners—start tiny, buy trusted bulk staples, budget realistically for dairy and meat, and let local community be part of the solution rather than going it alone.

This conversation is as relevant for city dwellers as it is for homesteaders. We talk veg boxes, UK-only sourcing that feels quietly rebellious, ethical dairying, micro-dairies thriving with just four cows, and the overlooked art of turning a harvest into meals. More than anything, this is a case for belonging—to place, to neighbours, and to a rhythm that finally makes sense again.

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 What’s one imported item you could swap for a local option this week?

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