From Blank Field to Thriving Community

At Vallis Farm, just outside Frome, the work starts with the soil.

What was once a blank field is now a place buzzing with life, from wildflower meadows and market gardens to a natural swimming pond, sauna, workshops, studios and a growing community of people who come to learn, swim, make, grow and connect.

In this episode of When in Frome Unfiltered, Sonia meets Tamsin Westbrook, Head of Land and Learning at Vallis Farm, to find out how the site has been transformed.

Creating a Wildflower Meadow for the Future

One of the farm's longest-running projects has been establishing a perennial wildflower meadow. While annual wildflowers provide an important food source for pollinators, Tamsin explains that a perennial meadow is the ultimate goal because it returns year after year and naturally outcompetes the grass.

To help that process, she has sown yellow rattle, a parasitic plant that weakens grass and creates space for other wildflowers to thrive.

"It's finally taken," she says. "I've got really excited about it. It's just this tiny little yellow plant."

The meadow has been cut, raked, grazed by sheep and even scythed over the past three years. It's slow work, but that patient, regenerative approach runs through everything at Vallis.

Learning Through Nature

With a background in education, Tamsin was determined from the outset that the farm should be a place for learning as well as growing. Today, Vallis hosts a varied programme of workshops, from no-dig vegetable growing and scything to garden design, foraging lunches and courses on creating natural dyes from plants.

One of those projects was developed by former apprentice Poppy, who created a dye garden using plants including rosemary, nettles, hollyhocks and Hopi sunflowers. The colours they produce are often surprising, with rosemary creating lilac tones and nettles producing soft purple-grey shades.

The team is even experimenting with using fleece from the sheep that graze the farm, with hopes it could eventually become another creative workshop.

Education has expanded beyond day courses too. Tamsin has written an accredited market gardening course for people looking to build a career in food growing and sustainable land management.

"I basically wrote the course for me eight years ago," she says, explaining that when she changed career there was no dedicated route into market gardening. The course is now running for the first time and will return next year.

Growing Food with Biodiversity in Mind

The market garden itself was one of the first things Tamsin created when she arrived at Vallis four years ago. The farm now supplies chemical-free vegetable boxes to the local community while making every decision with biodiversity in mind.

Raised steel beds filled with vegetables, flowers, medicinal plants and pollinator-friendly planting have transformed what was once an old horse ménage into a productive kitchen garden that doubles as an outdoor classroom.

A Swimming Pond Designed for People and Wildlife

Another of the farm's most striking features is its natural swimming pond. Designed to benefit both people and wildlife, it has already attracted swallows, great crested newts and countless insects since opening last summer.

On her very first swim, Tamsin watched a swallow swoop down to drink from the water.

"Mission accomplished," she says.

Access to the pond and sauna is managed through the Friends of Vallis membership scheme, allowing people to enjoy the space while protecting it as a habitat for wildlife.

That balance between people and nature is central to the farm's philosophy.

Building Community at the Heart of the Farm

Vallis has also become a thriving community hub, hosting yoga, qigong, baby massage, supper clubs and a wide range of creative workshops. Tamsin says one of the things she enjoys most is seeing friendships develop naturally between people who simply happen to meet there.

The farm is also home to a growing community of artisans, with studios occupied by jewellers, ceramicists, leather workers, herbalists, skincare makers and other local creatives whose work reflects the farm's values.

Investing in the Next Generation

The next stage of the farm's development is its newly established Community Interest Company (CIC), which aims to create pathways into horticulture and regenerative agriculture for young people.

Concerned about rising youth unemployment and the barriers many teenagers face, Tamsin hopes the project will eventually provide apprenticeships, work placements and weekly outdoor sessions for 12 to 18-year-olds, helping them build confidence, learn practical skills and spend more time away from screens.

For Tamsin, none of these projects stand alone. Whether she's planting wildflower meadows, writing accredited courses, creating habitats for wildlife or helping young people find a new direction, they're all part of the same vision.

"We have to invest in this generation," she says.

After spending time at Vallis Farm, it's hard to disagree.

Written by Daisy Steel.

Journalist, columnist and podcaster