Who we are…..
Dean and Donna, Happy Helper Sage, and three corgis
Bascom Farm is operated by Dean and Donna Bascom –and three rambunctious Corgis.
Buddha, Tasha, and Walter
-We’re committed managing our farm’s soils, water, forests, and wildlife habitats as sustainably as possible. They are an integral part of the surrounding landscape, environment, and the future of our community. We believe “Small Is Beautiful” and that many small farms producing food together strengthens our community. Bascom Farm’s mission is to “Keep It Local” by supplying fresh, delicious and nutritious food to our neighboring communities.
Dean Bascom, sheep whisperer
Dean grew up on this land, one of 7 children, when the farm was a small family-run dairy. After college he returned to the farm to take over, milking mostly jersey cows. In the 1990’s he left dairying to work as a soil conservationist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Walpole and Woodsville, NH. Dean’s the main shepherd on the farm, manages the roughly 6000-tap maple lot, grows fabulous garlic and Shiitake mushrooms and is a genius of tractor operations and building or fixing anything.
Donna Doel Bascom, chief mid-wife
From rural Maine, Donna’s path to farming began at 15 with a desire to have a greenhouse. Fifteen years later, that morphed into a Master’s degree in soil science. She’s worked with various organizations in organic and sustainable agriculture including an organic certifcation farm inspector, ag research, and writing. During the 90’s, Donna owned a 50 head goat dairy/farmstead cheese enterprise for 10 years in Arkansas. But New England called her back, where she worked as a soil conservationist for NRCS New Hampshire and where she met and married Dean. Donna’s focus is on vegetable production, chickens, sales and marketing and obsessing about cooking. She assists everywhere else as projects demand.
Sage Stark innoculating Shiitake logs
Currently, we’re blessed with the part-time help of Sage Stark, a needle in the haystack of young people who can do just about anything on the farm with a smile and work ethic rarely seen. She has her own farm aspirations, and in addition to owning and showing a string of dairy cattle, she fills up the rest of her day milking cows at another farm.
Corgis- Tasha, Walter, Buddha
After tying the knot, Dean and Donna promptly had a Corgi named Tasha who’s small, beautiful, and devilish. Walter and Buddha came along thanks to Tasha’s romance with a local boy, Watson. The trio keep the vermin in check and our ears ringing with their spontaneous barking.
Walter and Buddha,
sons of ……….
………Tasha “of Mount Montebello”
The Get-a-Way attempt…..