The team tackles the conditions faced by British farmers in 1943, when food imports slumped to their lowest level during the war. The government feared a crisis and Britain's farmers were challenged with somehow increasing food production yet again. There were renewed shortages of animal feed so Alex and Peter use some clever 1940s technology to produce a hay crop from grass in the church yard. Ruth enlists some children to help collect herbs that were needed to make medicines during the war and discovers the methods women used to look good despite the restrictions of rationing. While Peter is getting to grips with a vintage hay baling machine, Ruth and Alex attend a party at the village hall where they experience a new dance phenomenon brought to Britain by African-American GIs, the jive.