Luciano, or Lucho as he is better known, has been a stalwart of the Rock Farm team for nearly a decade. Hailing from sunny Spain, a small town north of Madrid, he came to Slane for a summer, to join his then girlfriend Laura who was a WWOOFER via the WWOOF (World Wide Working Opportunities on Organic Farms) programme at Rock Farm. The rest is history – he literally never left. Laura and he live on the farm with their two daughters.
Initially everything was on a much smaller scale and Lucho worked on the modest vegetable plot and looked after the pigs and cows. He had plenty of experience in this area as his father grew vegetables and raised animals to supplement the family bar and restaurant. Lucho had always preferred the outdoor side of things rather than the indoor hospitality business and this equipped him perfectly for this new position. Soon, Rock Farm began to grow, and so did the scope of Lucho’s work. Along with Carina Conyngham, he did a straw bale building course, a technique with which he was already familiar, as building with straw and clay is commonplace in Zamora where he grew up. First, they built the straw bale office building, then Swallow’s Nest and finally Lime House which is now the biggest straw bale residential building in the country.
Lucho recalls that glamping started at Rock Farm back in 2013, the year of the Bon Jovi concert at Slane Castle. He has been intrinsically involved with glamping, camping and events ever since then. He still works with the animals and continues to help oversee the vegetable growing. Anyone who has had their hen party at Rock Farm will know Lucho as ‘the guy that did the barbeque’. He’s also the handyman who takes care of all the small jobs around the farm, the go-to guy for wedding parties and the decorating expert for events in the Haybarn. He loves to be busy and there’s certainly always plenty to do. With his ready smile and positive demeanour, it’s no wonder Lucho says he enjoys working with people.
His two little daughters (6 and 3 years old) like nothing better than spending a few hours at the weekends ‘helping’ to feed the cattle and pigs and are great at keeping an eye on the hens and collecting the eggs. It’s a lovely way for children to grow up, learning to care for animals and enjoying time in nature with their Dad.
Taking holidays in summertime can be a challenge, but luckily Lucho is an avid snowboarder and likes nothing better than hitting the slopes in wintertime. He hasn’t been home to Spain since before Covid broke out and is looking forward to seeing his family again. Fortunately, the small town they live in, Villamayor de Campos, was almost untouched by the pandemic and now it’s nearly time to make travel plans once again.
