East Scryne Farm – Ethos, Sustainability and History
Scryne Farm welcomes you to learn more about our farming practices, values and history. We believe in what we do and know that the love and care we’ve poured into the family-run farm for generations translates into the very best field-to-fork experience in our café and fruit farm shop. So, whether you’re eating in, or taking our scrumptious produce home, we’re confident you’ll taste and see the difference.
We’d love to tell you a little bit more about what makes East Scryne Farm so special.
Our Farming Ethos and Sustainability Practices
While we may not be certified organic, we are deeply committed to environmental stewardship and the well-being of nature. As a member of the Red Tractor Assurance Scheme, we prioritise food safety and sustainability in all our endeavours.
Additionally, we proudly belong to LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), an organisation dedicated to advancing environmental practices in agriculture and are certified by Scottish Quality Crops. Beyond meeting basic environmental standards, LEAF and SQC’s vision aligns with our own aspiration for a farming and food system that fosters climate positivity, resilience, and biodiversity.
East Scryne Farm’s approach to farming reflects these commitments. We employ wide crop rotations, minimise pesticide use, and prioritise soil health by implementing cover cropping and reduced ploughing. Extensive hedgerows provide vital habitat for wildlife, with over 56 bird species, including rare ones like curlew, grey partridge, and tree sparrow, thriving on our farm.
Conducting an annual carbon audit helps us monitor and mitigate our environmental impact. We strive to minimise our carbon footprint, particularly by reducing nitrogen fertiliser usage. Solar panels atop our packhouse cold store and efficient water management systems exemplify our commitment to renewable energy and resource conservation.
Innovative pest management strategies further demonstrate our dedication to sustainable farming. Beneficial insects like parasitic wasps and predatory mites help control aphids, spider mites, and vine weevil populations, reducing our reliance on pesticides.
Our strawberries, cultivated using coir instead of peat, exemplify our focus on quality and sustainability. Despite challenges such as mildew, we embrace innovative solutions like UV light trials to ensure healthy yields while minimising environmental impact. At Scryne Farm, sustainability isn’t just a goal—it’s a way of life. We invite you to join us on our journey towards a more environmentally conscious future.
Our Family, and the Farm and Tearoom’s History
The Porter family are well known across the UK for our soft fruit; we’ve been farming for three generations on our 650-acre mixed farm since Gordon Porter established East Scryne Farm in 1942. Since his son, William, started growing strawberries in 1962, the soft fruit part of the business has grown significantly. We now employ over 150 seasonal workers and 16 permanent staff.
As well as being the third generation of Porter’s to manage the East Scryne Farm, James (Jim) Porter is the Chair of Ringlink Scotland, a regular columnist in the Scottish Farmer magazine, and a member of Angus Growers.
We opened East Scryne Fruit Farm Shop in 2013. It started as a modest ‘hatch in the wall’ affair, staffed by Kate, and the children (who also managed the chickens and hens egg sales). The hatch quickly grew into a fruit farm shop, tearoom and play park, which continues to flourish and evolve each year.
The Fruit Farm Shop and Tearoom
We pick the very best berries from our premium crop for the farm shop and café early each morning, and we think that short journey across the field to the kitchen is just one of the ingredients in our berries lifecycle that helps make them so very special.
Our commitment to the environment and sustainability continues in the farm shop and café. We’ve removed as much single use plastic as we can – no nasty plastic cups, forks, spoons, bags or punnets here; we have as much multi-use tableware and environmentally-friendly packaging as we can, right down to the compostable punnets you take your berries home in. Even our coffee grounds, food waste and paper waste go onto the compost heap ready for the vegetable patch.
By combining our sustainable field-to-fork ethos, employing the best local bakers and serving staff, and working with regional artisans and like-minded producers, we work hard to bring you the very best in the Angus region.
We’re open seasonally between April and September (7 days a week from 10:00 – 16:30, including bank holidays) and hope you’ll visit us this season. Find out more about visiting us here. ‘Customer Corner’ is a lovely hub that’s dedicated to you – our loyal and lovely customers.
Our very best wishes, Jim and Kate Porter
East Scryne Fruit 