'I had fallen completely and utterly in love with a small cow paddock near the sea, a few kilometres south of the then timber town of Moruya on the New South Wales south coast. She had been overgrazed down to short, dry crackly grass covered in cow pats. There were only two mature Casuarina trees, which, when the wind blew through their needles, made a sound that transported me back to a childhood of fishing on the Tuross River with my grandfather.'

Real Dirt is James Woodford's story, the story of how he came to find a piece of land to connect to, to live on and to regenerate - not just the land but his life, too.

It's the story of his journey from young adventurer, to greenie, to newspaper journalist and environment writer, to father, and to an understanding of Australia, its land and its indigenous people.

And it's the story of how a house and a way of life could be built to be environmentally sustainable, comfortable, enriching, exciting - and real.