With history dating back to the 1600s, the cherished land of Peterson Farm in Falmouth continues on through the mindful care and fresh vision of two dedicated locals. 

At Falmouth Sheep & Wool Co., Diana Wickman and Simon Thorrold carry on the century’s old traditions of sheparding at the historic Peterson Farm in Woods Hole. The duo arrived on Cape Cod separately to pursue their scientific careers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, but a chance encounter and a shared love of border collies set them on an unexpected course together to transform fallow pastures back into a working farm. 

It wasn’t long after moving to the Cape in 2011 that Wickman first came across Peterson Farm. She needed ample options for taking her border collie out on walks and the farm quickly became one of their favorite spots with its paths running through 88 acres of historic farmland and connecting into the wilder trail network of the Beebe Woods. Here she met Susan Schoen, the farm’s grazing tenant. Wickman was amazed by Schoen’s border collie’s ability to herd sheep, and after her own collie was given the chance to put his innate instincts to the test, she was enthralled.

Around this same time Thorrold and his wife were interested in getting their first dog. Thorrold’s wife knew Schoen through a local yoga studio and when she had a puppy available, the Thorrolds welcomed little Dempsey into their home and hearts. New to owning a puppy, the Thorrolds asked Schoen for help in training Dempsey; Schoen then enlisted additional help from Wickman because as any new puppy owner knows, it takes a village. But as fate would have it, before the introduction...