From a very Australian water crises to the very vivid task of chicken slaughter, it's the colourful characters of the district that come to rescue.

And this week the Narooma News continues an inside look into who made it onto the television show passing on their own tips for living sustainably off or just surviving on the land.

Paul does Skype his mentor Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall every now and then, but for now he is tackling life on the land by himself with only his border collie pup Digger by his side.

It’s a matter of survival this week when Paul discovers that a storm has blown off the pipes to his rainwater tanks, and because the farm apparently has no dam, his newfound menagerie of pigs, chickens and cows run the risk of going thirsty.

This is when Paul calls in the help of Tilba local Darcy Hoyer, who appeared briefly previously when the two met at the Tilba Easter Festival.

Darcy shows him the old spring up the on the slopes of Gulaga Mountain at the top of the River Cottage property.

Who knows if this is the spring of ever-lasting life as mentioned in the novel Mystery Bay Blues by Robert G Barrett, but Paul is visibly stoked when the water starts flowing.

With the help of Narooma tradesman Joe Dirt Excavations, the spring is accessed and plumbed into an old existing trough.

Taking a break from this serious business, Paul goes diving for mussels in the Tuross Lake estuary system with laidback local Turlinjah farmer Fraser Bayley, another one of the SAGE (Sustainable Agriculture Gardening Eurobodalla) brigade.

SAGE just happens to be hosting it winter harvest festival this weekend, but you can read about that elsewhere in this week’s Narooma News.

Again not giving away the exact location of these seafood treasures, they soon are smoking the mussels on the lake bank with the escarpment looking magnificent in the background.

These mussels are just what Paul needs to take to trade at a food swap instigated by equally laid back local Roger Bunyan at his Brogo homestead.

Paul scores some venison and veggies that he will cook up later – we note one the locals offloaded some dreaded chokos, but these don’t get another mention.

It’s off to Bega next to catch up with poultry fancier of great renown Peter Ubriehen, who supplies some beautiful Australorp hens from the original strain.

The long bit of wire used to snaffle the chicken is a truly ingenious invention impressing not only Paul but no doubt other would-be chicken farmers watching.

It's not only hens he gets from Peter but also some three roosters, two of which have limited time on this Earth.

Next we get to what must be one of the highlights of the series so far.

The whit and knowledge of Chris Franks, one of the founders of the last remaining small animal abbatoirs in Australia, shines through on camera.

The plight of of this Bega institution came to light in the News recently when an emergency meeting was held in Narooma to try and generate support and new business plan.

Small scale poultry producers from as far as Milton and Braidwood attended and this week there is good news to report.

SCPA-South East Producers representative in Narooma Carolyn Wells tells us Chris Franks reports that the Bega Small Species Abattoir is on track to recovery.

The steering committee has drafted a revised set of co-op rules with a view to having membership categories and conditions with greater appeal to a wider range of producers and supporters.

That draft has been sent to Fair Trading for approval. Also the work for the abattoir is beginning to pick up as birds begin to arrive from the new producers in the area.

Let’s hope River Cottage Australia does its part to encourage backyard production not only the district but around Australia.

But back to the show and Chris does a brilliant job walking Paul through the slaughter of his two roosters, using a device to break their necks and then a cone to drain the blood.

Again like last week’s pig head being sawn in half, this process is not for squeamish but as either Paul or Chris remarks it is more meaningful that simply going out and buying one of the thousands of factory chickens killed every day.

This is a similar process used in the abattoir and one Chris grew up doing, although he swore as a child he would never do it again.

The show ends with two enjoying Paul’s Coq au Vin cooked with gizzards and feet to make full use of the bird and Chris giving him a 9.5 out of 10 only so he had something to work toward and in the process hopefully inviting him back.

So with the water sorted, the pigs in a new pen free of poisonous white cedar berries thanks to another Narooma local business Treemendous, and chicken numbers set to expand, life goes on the River Cottage Australia farm.

Next week in Episode 5 it is the town of Narooma’s turn to shine with the Narooma Oyster Festival taking front and centre stage.

Paul’s aim is to eventually become totally self- sufficient- and he is well on the way.

With his own herbs, vegetables, eggs and cream from Bessie the cow, he whips up his first ever “all from the farm” meal.

But not all is going so well. Flies are a constant issue - especially in Paul’s country kitchen. So he meets a local sustainable farmer who introduces him to an ingenious all-natural solution.

Down by the coast, it’s oyster festival time. Paul tries his hand at the oyster shucking contest and then creates what is billed as a traditional coast favourite - a delicious oyster pie.

Episode 5 airs on The LifeStyle Channel on Foxtel this Thursday, July 25 at 8:30pm.

And for those who don’t have pay television, local venues showing the episode live include O’Brien’s Hotel in Narooma and the clubs in Bermagui and Bega.