Tresco Farm: Sustainable Farming on the Isles of Scilly
How Tresco Farm is bringing fresh, local food back to the islands
If someone were to ask me where the healthiest food in all of Britain is being produced, I’d probably point to an island 28 miles west of Land’s End. After all, the amount of atmospheric pollutants that rain down on the soils of the Scillonian archipelago must be negligible - and ever since agriculture began in the islands it always was, by geographic necessity, going to lean towards a more natural, less intensive, form of production. Those two facts alone must stand for something.
I was thinking this the other day after being invited over to the islands to meet a dynamic young couple who have taken over the reins of the farm on Tresco. Which in itself is something because with 160 acres, it is (I believe) the largest farm anywhere in the isles. No pressure then. Like all farms, the one they’re now running has to pay its way - and the economic realities of Scillonian farming are quite unlike anything you’ll find on the mainland.
But then, Ruth and Graham Eggins were armed with a decade’s worth of hands-on island-farming experience, having been tenants at Hillside Farm, on neighbouring Bryher. Most farms in this country send their produce away for sale - on the Scillies, where transportation is so notoriously difficult, you must rely on customers to come to you.
Check out our post on the history of farming the Isles of Scilly
From Bryher to Tresco: a new adventure in island farming
Graham and Ruth quickly learned to adapt and also find a way to process and market the vegetables they were growing in poly-tunnels. They cleverly changed the dynamics by planting drought-tolerant chillies and building a commercial kitchen in which they could make hot sauces and jams, for sale both on the islands and the mainland. That move turned winter - and the Christmas mail-order market - into their busiest, most lucrative season.
All well and good, but Graham - who comes from a well-established Devon farming family - always wanted to increase his livestock herd (Red Devons), so when the running of the much larger and more extensive Tresco farm came up, it seemed like a very obvious move to make. What followed last summer was a “frazzled” double-act, commuting by boat between Bryher and Tresco, before fully making the move.
Now they well and truly have their feet in the rich Tresco soil, so much so that the island marketing director Tom Matthews invited me over to meet the couple and see how they are well on their way to making this unique community a lot more self-sufficient. We met in one of the large barns right in the rural heart of the island, behind which truly impressive new vegetable gardens stretch away towards the all-important Atlantic tree cover.
“Initially, I was asked to come over and just give a hand over winter... and ‘give a hand’ suddenly turned into full-time work! It led on from there, and then we sat down and had a chat with Adam Dorrien-Smith, and he said, 'Would you ever consider moving over to Tresco?' Before that moment it wasn’t even anywhere on our horizon.’
“I think, in all honesty, we’d done lots at Hillside - and we’d done as much as we probably could. This kind of did feel like a new adventure,” commented Ruth. “Being on this much larger farm and working with the Tresco team, as well as having all the other resources here - just gives us more opportunity and a bit more flexibility.”
Red Devon cattle and a more productive Tresco Farm
It was a big jump… “From 40 acres to 160 now... and due to get slightly bigger because we’re going to start grazing the outer heathland areas. At the moment we’ve got 52 head of cattle here, because we’re still calving at the moment,” said Graham, his eyes lighting up at the mention of the Red Devon cattle. “We are going to drop numbers down slightly, just to enable the ground to recover and get to a good stage - let the soil recover slightly - and then see where we are and slowly increase numbers again.
“It’s all a big learning curve - we always wanted to do meat as well as vegetables and sell it on the island. That was a really big step for us... but we are crazily enthusiastic. It’s a massive adventure, one of those once-in-a-lifetime things you get to do.
“We’re really lucky here in the fact that the island chefs - like Liam at the New Inn - wants everything on an animal. He wants all the bones, he wants all the fat- and he renders it all down. That is music to the ears of a farmer producing beef. The lesser cuts is what he’s after - and that’s where the flavour is.”
“This is a forever-project,” explained Ruth. “It’s not just about the time we’re here. I’m hoping this is a real legacy job... It’s about Tresco perhaps not being totally self-sufficient, but certainly proactive. We had long talks with Adam and it was kind of like the beginning of his vision - what he’s looking to do with the island going into the future... He wants to keep Tresco very much as it is, but he’s got a vision of what he wants to do, and a big part of that is the farm - and getting the farm back up to being more productive.”
See our post on the famous annual Tresco Flower Count
Fresh vegetables grown on Tresco for island restaurants
Ruth is in the process of setting up 18 no-dig beds from scratch. Adam Dorrien-Smith had casually asked in an early meeting, “Would it be possible to have a few bags of salad…?
As we walked out among the amazingly productive looking beds, Ruth grinned as she proudly reported that they’ve already harvested over 130 kilograms of cavolo nero and kept the Tresco Stores and restaurants continuously supplied with salad greens since early May.
“Fragile leafy greens do not travel well on the Scillonian or by freight,” she said. “By the time mainland greens arrive, they’re exhausted. Having them cut that morning is a revelation for visitors and locals alike.”
Now, I have reason to be very impressed with all this. Just over 50 years ago as an 18-year-old, I spent an entire summer on St Agnes, camping for free and earning a bit of pocket money in return for helping the local farmer harvest his amazing early potatoes and other island veg. I remember the fabulous and extraordinarily delicious bounty of it all. Years later, I started returning to the islands on a regular basis in the very early 2000s working for this newspaper, and was astonished and saddened to discover that almost no fresh veg was being grown. To be honest, the food offer in Scilly back then was pretty atrocious.
Today it has, for the most part, come full circle. There’s a lot of good stuff being produced and prepared across the islands. I had an excellent dinner in the New Inn on Tresco one night last week.
The challenges of farming on the Isles of Scilly
Okay, so it’s not easy. Nothing on these windswept chunks of rock out there in the ocean is. Island farming is brutally unforgiving on infrastructure. For example, when Graham first put cattle near the old market garden plots, the herd drank the trough dry and drained that entire side of the island’s freshwater supply in hours. The estate had to step up with real investment: 100,000-litre rainwater harvesting tanks installed uphill to gravity-feed the beds.
However, increasing self-sufficiency does make an awful lot of sense in so many ways. Tresco can have as many as 800 visitors staying in a single week in season, then there are between 140 and 160 who actually live on the island. Obviously, there’s a whole heap of stuff that cannot be produced locally and has to be imported - but why bring fresh meat and veg from the mainland if you don’t have to?
Now, Ruth is in regular discussions with island chefs, tailoring crops to the menus. They are trialling Italian agretti for the Hell Bay Hotel (on Bryher), planning poly-tunnels for tomatoes, and even planting sea kale to force under pots next spring - reviving a tradition that made Scilly famous for early delicacies back in the 1880s.
Along the way, the farm is weaving itself back into everyday island life. The 15 children from the local island school regularly come down to get their hands dirty and see where their dinner comes from.
Check out our post on the best walks to be found in the Isles of Scilly
Happy pigs and a more natural approach to farming
And then there are the pigs. Ruth told me about a recent visit from a mainland Farmers’ Club - hard-bitten, retired agriculturalists in their seventies.
“We were up tickling the pigs, watching them root around and jump about, generally having a wonderful time,” Ruth recalled. “One of the old farmers asked if we clipped their teeth or worried about tail-biting. I told him no, we don't do any of that here. He looked at them for a long moment and said: ‘I haven't seen pigs look so happy and act like pigs since I was a boy.’
“And I thought to myself: that is what Tresco Farm is all about. Productive, but gentle and genuine.”
In an increasingly plastic and pre-packaged world, that kind of honesty is priceless. Travellers who come to these shores don’t just want scenery - they want authenticity. And on this breezy western outpost, Graham and Ruth Eggins are proving that common-sense farming isn't just a nod to the past - it is the very healthiest recipe for the future.
Fact File: Visiting Tresco and travelling by helicopter
Penzance Helicopters
An island escape should begin with an unforgettable journey. With Penzance Helicopters, the Cornish coastline gives way to the open waters of the Atlantic. Soon, the white sands and turquoise shallows of the Isles of Scilly come into view. In around 20 minutes, passengers touch down on St Mary’s or Tresco, ready to settle into island life.
The only operator offering direct flights to Tresco, Penzance Helicopters brings the islands within easy reach, whether for a leisurely day exploring or a longer retreat.
Helicopter fares and booking details
For those planning a day trip, the current (autumn 2026) published return fares are:
Single fare - £184.50 - return from £369.
The helicopter flight itself takes about 20 minutes each way, and a day-trip fare allows up to nine hours on the islands.
For full fare details and to book, visit penzancehelicopters.co.uk or call 01736 780828.
Where to stay on Tresco
The New Inn: B&B (based on two sharing) from £251 per person per night (2027 prices).
Sea Garden Apartments: From £415 per night.
Cottages: From £1,280 per week.
