A ploughing lesson for beginners

The Guardian used to run a series in which we asked celebrities what skill they had for a post-oil world. I can grow my own food and fuel, said some, I can milk cows, fish, build a fire, make a hay oven - the list was endless. If, unlike them, you don't have a practical string to your bow, why not give ploughing a go? Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

I went to Highfield Farm in Royston, Hertfordshire, for a ploughing lesson. Expert ploughman Paul Walsh introduced me to the lovely Fred and Mary, two 18.5 hands shire horses, who would be pulling the plough. He demonstrated the ploughing technique, which prepares the soil for sowing. Here he is executing a neat turn at the end of a row. Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

Then it was my turn. Walsh explained how to hold the plough and what to focus on: straight furrows, uniform rows, not too deep, no visible straw. Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

Primitive ploughs were in use 4,000 years ago. The modern plough can be traced back to a 1763 design. This close-up shows the furrow and land wheels and the coulter and disc coulter. Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

First I held the plough and Walsh controlled the horses. Then we switched roles. Other than a jolt when the horses set off, it was surprisingly easy. Doing it all day would be a different matter, though ... Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

Fred and Mary responded to Walsh's voice commands as well as his rope controls. A pair of shire horses can plough roughly an acre a day. A tractor, on the other hand, can manage 30 acres. Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

Finally I took sole control of the horses and plough. Despite Fred and Mary's placid nature, their sheer power was a little intimidating, and my furrows started to go off course. Walsh assured me that practice makes perfect: "One old chap could plough with one hand and kill a pheasant with his caterpault with the other. By the time he'd finished ploughing, the pheasant would be plucked and in his bag, ready to be cooked for his supper." Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian

There's something undeniably poetic about ploughing. Check out Walt Whitman, AE Housman and Joseph Campbell if you want to elevate your soul as well as your soil. Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian