Monadnock Food System Spotlight of the Month: Tom Hasselman & Sarah Sinclair of Iron Kettle Farm, Walpole

Tom Hasselman and his fiancé, Sarah Sinclair, purchased Iron Kettle Farm from Tom's parents who were ready to retire after years of farming.

Hard work is not new to either one of them. Tom worked as a locomotive engineer for 18 years and then grew fruit commercially for an orchard. Sarah spent eight years in the army with multiple deployments overseas. They are excitedly putting a new spin on the farm - starting with their three Percheron horses. 

Bob, Kooper, and Barney offer carriage rides throughout the year but are happiest during winter, pulling folks on an old-fashioned sleigh. However, pork is their main product. On average, Iron Kettle runs between 30 to 70 pigs year-round. They also have 50 - 75 goats, run a small dairy and large meat herd, raise rabbits, turkeys, and 350 laying hens. As you can see, they are quite busy throughout the year. During the Fall, they offer fresh-pressed apple cider and Thanksgiving turkeys.

We recently saw their meat in both Acworth Village Store and Drewsville Store and word has it Stonewall Farm carries their meat, as well. Their turkeys can be ordered at Pete's Stand in Walpole.

In addition, Iron Kettle Farm runs a traditional small-scale maple operation, producing 50 gallons a year. All their syrup is wood-fired, using the horses to harvest the firewood.

Tom and Sarah are passionate about educating the community about where food comes from. To that end, they make their farm available for people to visit. They work to provide visitors a special experience and answer questions they might have. And they can get to know Orion, their Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dog. Of course, he is an instrumental part of the daily life at Iron Kettle.