Bryde Marshall and her fiance Nathanael Dixon opened Falkland Kitchen Farm at the foot of Fife’s rolling Lomond Hills in 2014. The five-acre farm quickly became popular in Fife with their produce farmed by hand and grown without pesticides and herbicides. Nathanael is back from a prestigious year-long scholarship with Le Cordon Bleu in London in September and it is hoped the farm can expand its cooking workshops when he returns.

Name: Bryde Marshall

Age: 27

Position: Managing director

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?

FALKLAND Kitchen Farm.

WHERE IS IT BASED?

FALKLAND in Fife but we supply our produce to restaurants and shops all over Scotland, including Perth, Dundee and St Andrew’s.

WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?

I MET my fiance Nathanael at university. We both studied environmental affairs at St Andrew’s University. When we graduated in 2012 we heard about the Falkland Estate’s New Farmer Scheme and started to volunteer on organic farms.

We opened our own farm in 2014 with only a single polytunnel and two spades. It started off just me on the farm full time while Nathanael was working nearby and then it got to a point where we were both working on the field.

WHAT SERVICES DOES THE FARM OFFER?

THE food we use depends what is in season at the moment. We only work with seasonal vegetables. We do a unique veg box scheme which only runs from the end of March to December and 100 per cent of the things in the box we have grown ourselves or come from farms under a mile away.

We have been cooking at events to demonstrate to customers how to get the best out of our produce and I hope that this is something will do more of this when Nathanael gets back from his scholarship at Cordon Bleu.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?

WE put a lot of effort into selecting different varieties of produce. We try to follow produce that is at risk of extinction. We grow more than 70 varieties of fruit, vegetables and herbs.

The farm has a really big emphasis on diversity and hope to serve some rare varieties of fruit and veg.

A lot of other farms run their veg box schemes all year round and source produce from farms miles away as well as their own. We only use our own fruit and veg and if it has to be sourced elsewhere it is only from farms under a mile away.

We also try to be open minded in our approach to soil health – our soil is never turned and is aerated by broad fork so it is done by hand. This means there is more enzymes in the soil.

Our approach is very much raising seeds, planting and harvesting. It is traditional farming and we think that is reflected in the taste and quality.

WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?

A VARIETY of people from families to young professionals who like to eat organically. We try to keep everything reasonably priced. We also send our produce to shops in St Andrew’s, Perth and Fife and restaurants including The North Port in Perth and 172 At The Caird in Dundee.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

IT is always great to get compliments from customers who are so pleased with meals they have bought from our stalls.

Another highlight was when we attended an environment conference at Dundee University where everyone involved was so interested in what we do.

Running the business is full of lots of small victories and it’s a real privilege to have that kind of impact.

WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS?

WE hope to play a bigger role in terms of education in growing and cooking such as at the Local Food Works farmers market here in Fife. We hope to do host more meals and tours on the field where people can get a fuller picture of what we do. In terms of cooking our whole ideology is farming food that goes straight to the plate with no additives so it would be good to expand on that area. Nathanael is back in September so right now the farm is run by part-time employees. We have done a lot of farmers markets and want to do more food events when he returns like catering for weddings and environmental conferences.