But host Paul West could hardly have done it without another group of hardy Far South Coast locals experienced and willing to the share the way of the land.

Episode 6 of the new series starts out with another on-farm dilemma on the River Cottage property on the slopes of Gulaga Mountain at Central Tilba.

A gully extends down from the tree line on the boundary with the national park right the way through the property and its infested with the thick rambling blackberry bushes and lantana vines.

Thrown in for good measure are stinging nettles and poisonous fireweed.

Paul obviously wants to steer clear of herbicides and instead chooses something much more friendlier –Elisabeth Larsen of Wolumla south of Bega and her herd of frisky, hungry Boer and Angora goats.

Her business name – Rent-a-Ruminant, Herds for Hire – explains it all.

Her native Norway is the home of the fairytale Three Billy Goats Gruff, and her charges do an absolutely magnificent job of completely stripping back the gully down to rock and bare fallen timber in a matter of days.

Once the goats are loaded back into the trailers and heading off for their next mission impossible, Paul and helper share a meal as a reward – in this case, it’s the very traditional Australian damper bread baked in whole dug into the turf and spread thick with his homemade butter from Bessie his Jersey cow.

Appetites satiated, Paul doesn’t have to go far to get some young native plants to revegetate his land.

He heads down the short drive from Tilba to the South Coast Flora nursery operated for the past 20 years by Merryn Casey in her own spot of rainforest at Dignams Creek.

Merryn, who is described on the show as an organic farm inspector, said she supplied him with tube stock of native plants including the intriguing cabbage palm or Livistona australis.

This stately, towering palm tree is now extremely rare but still hanging on in spots including off the Princes Highway at Victoria Creek and Southam Creek.

The palm was once revered by the local indigenous people and harvested occasionally on special occasions for its nutritious palm heart.

It’s great to think the River Cottage gully could in decades be sporting these tall graceful giants thanks to Paul and the goats’ work.

After all this hard work of ripping, digging and planting, the weathering visible on Paul’s fingers, it’s time for one of the hardest things any farmer has to do.

It’s time for Big Boy the pig to be slaughtered and turned into many cuts of meat.

Paul in his weekly chat with mentor Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall over the computer seek strength and is told he will eventually get used to the process of farewelling animals, although not naming with cute or meaningful names helps.

The slaughtering of the pig, like the chickens in the previous episode, is to be done on the farm and the stormy weather matches the mood as Bega area mobile butcher Matt Christison and his offsider Pretzel arrive.

Hey there has to be one crazy name in each episode, right!

For those not recovered from the previous week’s double rooster decapitation it was a matter of bracing themselves for the slaughter of the pig again to be done on the farm.

But thanks to the expertise of Matt the animal is treated with respect, not allowed to become stressed and dispatched quickly with a single bullet to the forehead.

This on-farm slaughtering service is one that locals in the district are increasingly taking up with their own livestock, in perhaps a return to days of old and so much better than the supermarket.

Matt gave an excellent to the Bega District News prior to the airing of episode where he let on that it was actually a 14-hour day of filming.

“It was amazing to see how much effort goes into making about nine minutes of footage,” he said.

“We ran through a lot of different scenarios and filmed takes over and over again.

“It’s pretty intense how it all comes together to make that half hour of TV.”

Mr Christison’s job was to slaughter a pig, with each step in the process being filmed by the camera crew, including collecting its blood, giving it a “paddock to plate” sequence.

“It’s not an easy thing to do to slaughter a pig, it’s quite brutal and there’s a lot involved, but it all ran smoothly.

“I pulled out the liver and handed it to Paul West, the host and chef, to cook up. 

“By the time all the takes had been filmed, the dish he made had got cold and in the end we had to put on an act in front of the cameras about how good it was!”

Once the pig is dressed, Paul turns to a couple of local blokes already featured and obviously very handy to have around.

Quaama butcher and award-winning sausage maker John Tracey of Barrabaroo Farm Fresh Meats is joined by Tilba local Darcy Hoyer, who came to rescue previously helping to clear the farm spring.

The three of them cut the pig up with great reverence not even arguing over who gets what piece.

The reward again for the helpers is a meal cooked by Paul, in this spare ribs and how can you go wrong with every red-blooded male’s favourite.

John obviously approved commenting online: “You may be wet behind the ears making sausages but Paul you re the best cook the ribs were delicious. This is reality and nothing but the best lifestyle of food available. Cheers Mate.”

So what’s up next for the penultimate episode?

The LifeStyle promo says Episode 7 will see the local CWA ladies having a big job for Paul – and there might be a sweet reward in return.

If he can help them paint their headquarters, they’ve offered to share some of their cake–making secrets with him.

How will his hazelnut loaf cake stand up against some of the finest in the district?

The publicity officer for the Cobargo branch this week sent out a story and photo previewing the ladies involvement.

She writes that the featuring of the Bega and Cobargo CWA members on their show, with their cooking skills and the recent renovation of the Cobargo CWA Cottage, has created a huge fan club from the Far South Coast CWA Group, consisting of 10 branches from Batemans Bay to Eden.

“Some of the episodes were shown at the recent Far South Coast CWA Group meeting in Cobargo…”

Back on the farm, Paul’s been collecting old chook feathers - but what on earth for? Could there be something fishy going on?

And as we head to the coast nearby, Paul learns that there’s more to seaweed than meets the eye. Not only is it good for the garden, he has an idea for a crispy new recipe.

Episode 7 of River Cottage Australia airs on The LifeStyle Channel on Foxtel this Thursday at 8.30pm, and as always for those without pay television, local venues including O’Briens Hotel at Narooma and the clubs at Bermagui and Bega are airing the show on Thursday night.