Editor's note: A story from our archives about an enterprise worth knowing about – the people who power the farm that produces quality food, specialty products year-round – Killam & Bassette Farmstead. Family and friends are connected to the local community, state, and a regional network of farms, artisans, makers. Growing a family as well as a farm business, Chris Bassette is a wealth of information connected to a network of people, ideas – from recipes to farmers markets. (And, yes, she is a great cook.) The best use of the Internet and social media – in our opinion – is the cross-pollination of ideas. Wherever you live, farm, work, raise livestock, keep bees – there are others out there who have tips, answers – and are willing to share and help. Ask. Each media platform stands by itself but can work with the others to diffuse information.

With 85 acres along the Connecticut River Valley – 13 acres broadleaf tobacco, 27 acres of butter and sugar corn, the rest planted in tomatoes, peppers, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, summer and winter squash Chris and Kevin Bassette and their five children – Abby, Olivia, Dina, Henry, Jamie – and partner, Henry Killam, keep pretty busy.

They grow a variety of small fruits and make their own homemade jams plus tend 350 (more or less) layer hens for free-range eggs.

A Brown Swiss cow, actually a “freemartin” arrives soon.

“A freemartin,” explains Chris Bassette, “is one of twin calves – if one is a boy and one a girl, the female has no reproductive organs.”

The Bassettes are former dairy farmers, you see. With an encyclopedic mind, Chris can provide in-depth information like that at the drop of a hat. She can instantly switch gears to share recipes for whatever fruit or vegetable is tempting a customer, too, all the while juggling day-to-day demands of a family and business.

They do two to six farmers' markets a day, 30 or so a week. Some trucks go out twice.

The commonsense knowledge she dispenses so matter-of-fact complements the signature eye-popping tie-dyed T-shirts worn by Killam & Bassette Farmstead family and friends who pitch in with the work.

“It's tough work but I love it,” said Chris. “I don't think we'd have 5 kids if we didn't have the farm. We're with them every day, they are involved in every aspect of the farm business.”

Kevin is the hands-on farmer with knowledge about each crop and acre in his head. “He will occasionally do a market – he's certainly got the personality – but likes it better when things are done right on the farm,” said Chris.

Anyone who is a gardener knows the joys and trials of cultivating a productive patch of earth. Sometimes life demands (or aging knees) can make it nearly impossible to do this beloved work. Markets are the source to a quest for that hunger for home-grown produce – and to also talk about seeds, plants, crops, weather and what have you. There is a hunger for more than food that can be satisfied.

“The camaraderie with our customers is personally rewarding,” she said. “I learn what we need to do to improve and they learn when we picked what they choose to buy – and what we did or didn't do to grow it.”

Customers can even ask for sweet corn by variety.

“We have Charisma and Providence, my personal favorite. Montauk yields a big ear that is as tender as can be – and I can tell people about that.”

She believes in the farmers markets and knows that at newer markets there is an educational curve.

“I want people to know that everything we have is fresh and freshly picked,” she said. “Some people will say we are more expensive than Stop & Shop or such, but what you get at a farmers' market is not one being picked green or picked last week – it's picked ripe, when it's supposed to be picked – and the flavor is something you can't get at a more commercial store. There are people who think farm markets will be dirt cheap because the food is direct from the farmer, and there's a belief that maybe a farmer doesn't need much money.”

Old Saybrook gets it, with a well-established market with more than 25 vendors. Chris is market master, something that happened by default.

“The market master left just when I started 15 years ago,” she explains. “So the only way to keep it going was to do it myself.”

Under her stewardship and with demand from the community, the market has grown to two days.

“Customers wanted a market mid-week so they could get what they wanted – fresh.”

At any market, there are times when a shopper is stymied by what they see and how to serve it up.

“People will say ‘oh my gosh kale – it looks so good but what can I do with it?' and boom, Chris will reel off easy-to-fix solutions.

As part of the e-mailed Old Saybrook newsletter (free) a new recipe is featured each week along with tips and news about vendors.

“There was a time when no one liked farms and farm markets and not so long ago – now it's a whole different mindset,” said Chris. “But all those people who held on through all that, kept the land and are known for their quality products, they have such pride in everything they do and they've sustained. There are many in South Glastonbury known for what they grow.”

“Shade-grown tobacco is where only the leaves are picked,” Kevin points out. “We grow broadleaf C19 and cut the whole plant, then sell to a broker.”

Killam & Bassette has been growing for 20-plus years now and has these long-time well-regarded agricultural neighbors in a growing suburban region to cultivate their own sterling reputation for years to come. Read more