Purpletigron

I have just discovered this fascinating and thought-provoking series:

http://www.petersommer.com/about-peter-sommer-travels/tales-from-the-green-valley

"As the start of a new agricultural year loomed in the autumn of 2003, five specialists attempted to turn back the clock to find out. They had to get to grips with a remarkable farm on the Welsh borders, restored to how it would have been in 1620, the reign of James I. For the previous 17 years an historical group had worked to restore the site - farmhouse and outbuildings put up using periods materials, orchards planted with fruit trees from the era, and contemporary crop varieties sown. Now a team of archaeologists and historians, Stuart Peachey, Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands, Peter ‘Fonz’ Ginn, and Chloe Spencer, took on the challenge of running it for a full calendar year (each programme follows one month), using only tools and materials available in the 17th century."

Edit: Interesting comparisons can be made with the modern low-impact community of Steward Wood: http://www.stewardwood.org/community/history.ghtml