HORTICULTURE, SUFFOLK: Cameron set up his no-dig market garden in September 2022 and it now covers two acres (0.8 hectare). His aim, he says, is to grow healthy, seasonal, nutrient-rich produce for his local community with a focus on healing the soil and increasing biodiversity.

The garden, which produces vegetables, herbs and flowers (edible and cut), is on the Kenton Hall Estate near Stowmarket. The land had previously been farmed ‘conventionally’ using chemical pesticides and fertilisers, so since taking it over Cameron has been working with soil scientists to work out how to improve its soils to grow the healthiest produce while maximising yields. Cameron uses a no-dig method in order to preserve the structure and biodiversity of his soils, and boosts their fertility using animal and green manures.

In 2023 he sold his first veg boxes to local customers, and started supplying a local wholefoods shop, a restaurant, and Kenton Hall’s cookery school. Cameron encourages customers to collect their produce from the farm so they can connect with their food and see how and where it is grown and who is growing it. “Most of us now shop at supermarkets so we’ve become disconnected from our food,” he says.

The market garden is also used to hold events. These have included a charity star-gazing evening, a no-dig talk and farm walk with no-dig ‘guru’ Charles Dowding, and regular supper clubs using produce from the farm. Cameron also runs talks and workshops about how to grow your own food and the benefits that gardening and the outdoors can have on your physical and mental health.

Before embarking on a career of gardening, Cameron studied music business in London and worked in the music industry. He became disillusioned with that, but now enjoys integrating music into the market garden by running small live music festivals and gigs. “I love the idea of it being a multi-functional space where people can pick up their vegetables and maybe do music at the same time.”

Cameron has been interested in growing all his life. While at school he worked on local arable farms during the holidays to build up a network within Suffolk’s farming community.

Cameron started growing his own food when stranded at home with a garden measuring 8 x 6 metres (26 x 20 feet) during the first Covid lockdown in 2020. The following year he moved into a flat without a garden but managed to secure an allotment plot nearby. He also got a part-time job on a flower farm, where he learnt about growing cut flowers and companion plants. Keen to offer vegetables that were not just the usual, he started researching rare and heirloom varieties and grabbed any opportunity he could to volunteer at local market gardens.

After two years of growing at his allotment and supplying his friends and family with excess produce, Cameron decided to take the plunge and grow commercially. “I wanted to supply my local community with chemical-free food and engage them on the farm so they could see the process for themselves.”

While he grows his business, Cameron is supporting himself by working part-time for a local holiday lettings management company.

For Cameron, working outdoors and with nature is the perfect job. “Working outdoors on the farm with the soil and plants has huge benefits on my physical and mental wellbeing,” he says. “I love the opportunity to observe nature and the changes from one season to the next.”