The Straightbranches are an endangered family, some may say. Bulmo is part of a long line of 'only sons' which started with his great-great-grandfather Romo Straightbranch, who only had one uncle (who incidentally died unmarried). All of the other Straightbranch branches died out (or mixed in with the rest of the hobbits of the Shire, rather), leaving Bulmo to carry the weight of an entire family on his back.

All the same, Bulmo does not feel that weight. He is a carefree bachelor that likes his pipe, his tankard, and his plate above most anything else. He is a farmer of pipe-weed, being from the Southfarthing. Although, everyone in the Southfarthing grows pipe-weed, right? So Bulmo had to be different! He brought the fine arts of Southfarthing pipe-weed farming into the Eastfarthing, and he bought a farm right near Stock.

Although if you ask anyone (except himself, who maintains he moved to Stock because the farm he bought was a fantastic deal and he saw an opportunity), they will say he moved there because of the Golden Perch. There must be some grain of truth in that, if only because Bulmo frequents there more than most, and he is known to be particularly an enthusiast of both Brandy Wine and Old Withywindle, not to mention the large number of food the inn offers. Strangely enough for a hobbit of the Southfarthing Bulmo has found a taste for fish, and he has himself been known to sit by the Brandywine with some of his more Stoorish friends and catch a fish or two. 

In any case it would not seem that the Stoors of the Eastfarthing mind Bulmo living there - he is generally a likeable character, and he can usually spare a pouch of pipe-weed (even if he will often hint that it would be better if they paid for it). He also is known as a fairly good brewer, and he can also usually share a mug or two of his home-brewed blueberry ale (or sometimes some of his ale 'experiments') with anyone who will show up and ask him for some. 

Bulmo has also been known to travel a bit (but not too much, mind you), and he has been to Bree a few times. Although, he claims that after every business venture to Bree he is worse off (money-wise) than he was before the venture. This can be connected to the fact that Bulmo is quite passive, and that he is just generally a terrible salesperson. In Bree Bulmo has been known to buy drinks for folks, if they ask him to. Even if they don't (and they are asking another person), Bulmo will often go up and give them the required coin to buy an ale. He seems to have a slight fear of elves, though (but he will deny such an accusation).

Westward Bulmo's travels don't take him much farther. He is known to regularly stop at the Green Dragon in Bywater, and occasionally the Ivy Bush in Hobbiton. He is a welcome sight there, likely since he usually very happy to share some pouches of pipe-weed with the patrons. Bulmo will not likely be found much farther west than Hobbiton, but there are exceptions. He claims he doesn't like the beer past the Ivy Bush (indicating that he does not like the beer in the Bird and Baby), which (to him) justifies never going westward from there.

Bulmo is known to be quite literate, and he is known to be an avid reader and writer of histories. Although these histories are usually limited to family histories, there are exceptions. He keeps many histories in his family's book, known as the Pipe-weed Farmer's Almanac. While the Pipe-weed Farmer's Almanac has many pages of what an actual almanac would contain, you can clearly tell by a change in handwriting, style, and subject when Bulmo begins writing. If you ask him, you'd likely be given permission to gaze upon this mediocre piece of literature, but more likely than not you won't really care about it's contents.