Former King Ethelbert School and Westgate resident Jack Scott has won the BBC Countryfile Young Countryside Champion award.
The 20-year-old, who is a third-year Environmental Social Sciences student at the University of Kent, received the top title at the BBC Food and Farming Awards in Newport in recognition of his agricultural work and the links he has made to help the public understand the rural environment.
The win was announced on Sunday (November 5) and Jack was presented with his award by Countryfile host Adam Henson
Jack run J.S. Vegetables and grows predominantly on four acres of land at Nonington but also on one acre at Quex where he initially started out.
Produce includes everything from onions and carrots, beets, cabbages, kale and courgettes to chard, parsley and beans.
And it is all grown chemical free and with an approach that enriches the soil through cover crops, shallowing ploughing and pollinators.
Jack, who recently moved with his partner to Nonington, said: “The reason I got into vegetable growing was the family greengrocers – Justin’s Fruit Market on my mum’s side – and my dad worked at the cauliflower farm in Westgate.
“I thought I would like to do it myself so when the opportunity to take up a bit of land at Quex Park, I did it. It was not really saleable until 2020 when people started wanting veg boxes and then the restaurants were interested and people came out to see what I was doing.”
Jack expanded to a larger area of land at Nonington and is a supplier for outlets including Quex, Angela’s and Bottega Caruso in Margate, Quince in Westgate, the Goods Shed in Canterbury and Kent Veg Box.
As well as providing locally sourced produce, Jack gets people from chefs to schoolchildren on to the land and teaches them about farming and caring for the environment.
He said: “For me it is about getting boots on the ground, getting people who do not have an agricultural background into agriculture. There are school visits and I will be working with The Perfect Place to Grow next year.”
The Perfect Place to Grow is a training café and kitchen aimed at giving 18-24 year olds a path into employment
It is based at the former Edwardian morgue building within Tracey Emin’s TKE Studio site in Victoria Road/Dane Road, and is the creation of Lee Coad, of seafood restaurants Angela’s and Dory’s, with Harry Ryder from Bottega Caruso and Thanet youth worker Anistasia James.
The ambition is not just to give experience on-site but also at farms, dairies, fishing boats and other parts of the supplier chain.
And that is where Jack, who already works with Lee and Harry, comes in.
He said: “They (students) will come into the business Monday to Wednesday and then Thursday to Saturday they will be cooking dishes with the produce.”
It is another tie with Angela’s, a business which shares environmental ethics such as removing plastic use from the food chain and growing produce free from chemical spray.
Jack uses shallow cultivation systems and enriches with natural fertilisers such as horse muck and seaweed. He also uses cover crops including sunflowers and red clover and grazing livestock to keep the soil healthy and plants pollinator strips to encourage insects which help control aphids.
Jack, who is also an Assistant Conservation Advisor at Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South East and a member of the Westgate and Garlinge action group to save farmland, was nominated for the Countryfile award and says he was “quite surprised” to win.
He added: “It’s brilliant, I’m thrilled.”
Jack is now looking ahead at plans to expand his offering. He said: “I plan to take on a bit more land as I think the market is there. I am also trying to set up something local, maybe a horsebox supplying veg in the villages or another veg box scheme.
“At Nonington Farm we have my veg, flour and meat so we could put all three together and sell through a box scheme. It’s something to try out as part of a sustainable business.”
To find out more visit: J. S. Vegetables
