The land here at Ro Dama was, in Victorian times, a silver mine owned by the Basset Estate. More recently it was used as a motorcycle track, quarry and ‘dump’. The first project here was to remove much of the debris left by the previous use of the land. Many discarded plastic and metal motorbike pieces were left as well as a contaminated quarry and slag heap. Over several years the quarry was landscaped into a traditional Cornish Plenn An Gwarry (playing place) or amphitheatre. The contaminated debris has been largely removed, or used in hedging and a thick blanket of topsoil applied with the aim to create a sub-tropical terraced garden. Although the rest of the site is woodland and small holding the Plenn An Gwarry is used regularly as a performance space for a wide range of multimedia creative arts performances.
We have both south facing slope and flat water meadow, bounded by a mining leat and the River Connor, a tributary to the famous Red River.
Wildlife here at Ro Dama is diverse and abundant we are regulary visited by wild deer, foxes, badgers, rabbits, buzzards, heron, trout, frogs and all manner of other indigenous species.
Our water meadow is bounded by a mining leat and the River ConnorRo Dama Farm sits on the side of a beautiful natural valley that was once a busy industrial place.The River Connor rises high in January 2021With the pathways now strimmed back, access to the clear fresh flowing water of the River Connor is now a pleasurable easy stroll through the lush wilderness.The wooden jetty on the bank of the River Connor is a perfect picnic location. There are trout, frogs and other river creatures in the water. Meditation and stillness are easily achieved in this naturally harmonious place.It looks messy to start with but this is how we have approached our permaculture no dig way of transforming our site into a partially cultivated area. Large bits of scrap card are laid over the bare soil. This suppresses unwanted growth of bramble and other stuff. Naturally vitamin enhanced soil will be placed onto the decomposing cardboard and we will grow into this layer of soil. We are currently creating more naturally composted soil from our green waste using a range of natural composting techniques.Solar panels provide free clean renewable energy that powers all of our electrical devicesDrying Teazles in a glorious summer skyMisty summer morning in the valley looking South.Wild fungi grows here at Ro Dama in so many unexpected places. This crop grew on a chopping block stump in Autumn 2020We have planted trees and flowers on the hillside that our native pollinators find attractive. We hope to record and catalogue the range of pollinator species that visit the Farm.The wind turbine works alongside the solar panels to provide all the power we need to run electrical devices. We turned the wind turbine off during the strong winds created by Storm Eunice in February 2022
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