Grow More Growers is looking for landowners from across Buckinghamshire - including members of the Thame Catchment, Central Chilterns, and River Ray Farm Clusters - who are willing to offer small plots (and possibly buildings) to help new growers get started.

Together, they will co-design flexible agreements tailored to each farm, with ongoing support from trusted partners including Bucksum, the Real Farming Trust, and Bath University.

The three-and-a-half-year pilot scheme is all about building a resilient, nature-friendly local food system - and producing evidence for national policy change.

There are exciting opportunities for landowners to explore future-proof income models, sustainable land use, and to be part of a growing movement for local food resilience and agroecological farming practices that work with nature.

Kick-off meeting in Long Crendon

Organisers are kicking things off with a meeting at Lopemede Farm in Long Crendon on Thursday 25th September, from 7pm-8pm. Anyone interested in shaping the project or providing access to land are invited to join to learn more, share ideas, and help shape the future of local food.

Want to get involve? Express your interest here or email any questions to [email protected].

How Grow More Growers came to life

In June 2024, David and Tracy from Bucksum Farm Shop in Aylesbury attended a local screening of Six Inches of Soil. Quietly slipping out, they braced for the next day’s wave of interest: “Where can I buy more local, regeneratively grown produce?”

Having stopped advertising eight years ago and already turning away restaurants and shops, Bucksum has long balanced staying small, sustainable, and viable. Watching the decline of market gardens between Oxford and Evesham, they dreamed of a resurgence of new growing enterprises on local farms.

That seed grew into action. They reached out to grower friends, farm cluster members, and local collaborators like George Simons, who had recently secured funding for a project with Eddie Rixon at Lopemede Farm. Around the same time, inspired by the Basic Income for Farmers (BI4F) campaign and conversations at the Oxford Real Farming Conference 2025, the idea of Grow More Growers began to take root.

Now, after months of collaboration and successful funding bids, they are excited to be launching the Grow More Growers (GmG) Demonstration Pilot and are inviting local landowners from across Buckinghamshire to get involved and be part of this exciting initiative.

The BI4F and the Real Farming Trust are key partners in the Grow More Growers project, while Hilary Phillips of the River Thame Conservation Trust has supported the development of Grow More Growers and, in her role as Facilitator of the Thame Catchment Farm Cluster, will help promote the project and share learning through their networks and partnerships.

Join the kick-off meeting

The kick-off meeting is at Lopemede Farm, Thame Road, Long Crendon, OX9 3SH on Thursday 25th September, from 7pm-8pm.

Want to get involve? Express your interest here or email any questions to [email protected].