The Caroline Drummond Award - Celebrating and Communicating Farming Excellence. Bucksum proves small can be successful

Respect for nature and its power to help grow nutritious and delicious food is at the heart of the approach of the second winner of the Caroline Drummond Celebrating and Communicating Farming Excellence Award.

Bucksum is a market garden in Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire owned by husband and wife team David Newman and Tracy Russell.

The 16-acre business based at Shabbington Fields farm grows more than 40 seasonal crops supplying its own farm shop, a box scheme and local restaurants. It also provides a springboard for local youngsters for a life in farming and other jobs.

“We farm in a way that that understands the needs of the soil and the environment and harnesses their power to grow plentiful supplies of local food,” say Tracy and David.

“Building a relationship with our customers and neighbours helps them share that understanding and allows them to appreciate the importance of how food is produced.”

David’s parents started farming the land in 1977 and he and Tracy are one of their tenants. David met Tracy at the Thame Food Festival where several years later he also proposed to her. She previously worked for the prison service and amongst other projects restored a Victorian walled garden as a market garden to help rehabilitate prisoners. Sharing the joys and challenges of growing food with others is key to the farm’s success.

“We run a young growers group for two to twelve year olds introducing them to how food is grown and how important caring for the environment is. From 13 years onwards some of them join us working on the farm. We’ll employ up to nine young people at a time training them not only to grow crops and care for the environment but in all aspects of the business. Whether they go onto a career in farming or horticulture or not, they leave us with valuable work experience and hopefully greater confidence as they move into further study or work.”

Emma Catling, mother of one of the Young Growers said:

“My four year-old has been inspired to start his own fruit patch after weekly visits to Bucksum and joining young growers. He daily checks his strawberry and tomato plants and has enjoyed learning where his food is from, seeing it grow and ripen. He has recently been so proud of growing his own potatoes, he couldn’t believe how big and many he had grown! A fantastic start to his food journey.”

Winning soil

Although Bucksum occupies 16 acres of the 100 acre farm, only four acres are planted with crops each year, with the land put down to a restorative herbal ley for the next three years and rotationally grazed by sheep from nearby Chilton Grounds farm. Land under one acre of polytunnels which extend the season are also rotated with crops such as Sweet Potatoes, Melons, tomatoes and beans to maintain soil health.

“Using green manures, home-made soil improvers and encouraging natural predators allows us to feed and protect our crops without the use of chemicals,” say David and Tracy.

“Areas of wild flowers and natural hives for bees attract pollinators to enhance biodiversity, while little and tawny owls and kestrels have been attracted to our owl boxes.”

This approach to the environment led to Bucksum being awarded the Farm Carbon Toolkit “Soil Farmer of the Year Award” presented at Groundswell this year. Tracy and David have established a Growing More Growers group to encourage local farmers to offer up an acre or two to those wanting to establish market gardens, with three already in the early stages of development.

“Re-establishing a network of market gardens will help the UK produce more of its own food, give farmers more power in the food chain, improving consumer understanding of food and protect the environment.”

On winning the award: Tracy and David said:

“This award means a lot because it recognises the value of working with as well as for our community.”

Commenting on Bucksum’s win, Caroline Drummond’s husband Philip Ward said:

“Caroline would have been delighted at Tracy and David’s win. Not only are they very good farmers, they are excellent communicators.

Victoria Bywater, director of the Institute of Agricultural Management said: “David and Tracy’s commitment to sustainable farming and community engagement exemplifies the spirit of the Caroline Drummond Award. Their innovative approach not only showcases how smaller farms can be successful, but also highlights the vital role they play in nurturing the next generation of growers. By integrating environmental stewardship with education and collaboration, Bucksum is demonstrating a future for farming where nature, people, and food production thrive together."

British Guild of Agricultural Journalists chair Ben Pike said: "Bucksum epitomises what this award represents and shows the power of communication in improving people's perceptions of farming and the ripple effect this can have across society."