Our Vision

That’s A Plenty Farm & Pollinator Habitat is situated in the floodplain of the Connecticut River in Hadley, MA. Only 72 ft. wide by 1/4 mile long, this farm is one of many strips sized as the amount of land one ox can plow in a day (in an earlier time).

We are Michael and Cathy Katz, both of retirement age, beginning our 15th summer of farming. Our family supports and inspires us in this project; three generations contribute to the farm. Our son, Josh, works the berry orchard and maintains the greenhouses. Our daughter, Jenny, does our web design. Our grandson Isaac designed the farm logo and our grandson Emerson works the farm during summer breaks.

We are proud that an article about our farm was the cover story for the November 2016 issue of ACRES USA, an eco-farming magazine. Read the article here: november16_pollinators-welcome

On May 31, 2022, Cathy was interviewed on the Farm to Fork radio program, hosted by Jessica Tanner of Valley Free Radio WXOJ. Listen here.

These are the essential questions of That’s A Plenty Farm:
• How much is enough?
• What does it mean to have a secure future?
• What would it entail to become contributors to the system, giving back more than we take?
• How can we, on our three acres, work to heal the planet?

We hand farm, and build soil. We grow compost, follow protocols to grow nutrient-dense food, and save seeds. We believe in permaculture and perennials. We installed a small solar array. We downsized. We moved to a community where we can ride bikes or walk for work and errands. We aim to grow nutritious food for a family of 6 through 4 seasons in New England (unheated greenhouses). We are learning to need less. To aim our energies at healing the planet. To learn cosmic rhythms.

In 2011, we discovered the resources available through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), through which we received grants to establish the first NRCS-funded pollinator habitat in western Massachusetts. Now in our eleventh pollinator habitat year, we are proud to share seeds from our habitat, and our perennials are mature enough that we now also sell native, not-sprayed plants to local customers.

We wish our leaders would lead us all in making a transition to sustainability.

CONTACT US

email thatsaplentyfarm@gmail.com
or call Michael’s cell: 413.320.5953

Music

Ours is a family of musicians, creative thinkers, educators. Enjoy these links!

New Music from the farm: nature songs for children in Jenny’s album, “Dandelion Baby.” These are songs kids will sing to themselves, making up new verses, and songs that you can sing with them. It includes a song about pollinators, “Butterfly Bee,” a round about birdsong, “Round Wren,” a reminder about all the creatures around us, “Watch Where You Step,” and much more. I can’t stop dancing to “Cranky Baby.”

Listen for free here: https://jennykatz.bandcamp.com/album/dandelion-baby

Jenny’s a songwriter/storyteller whose work has been highlighted in songwriting contests. Most recently, one of her love songs, “The Bearded Lady and the Fat Man,” was nominated as Best New Folk Song. Listen here.

Michael, whose artistic life has been as a jazz piano player, has been composing music for beginning instrumentalists for decades. One of his latest offerings is “freescaling,” a suite of web-based tools to help piano teachers introduce improvisation to their students. Check it out!

Josh is teaching Voice, Bass, Ukelele, and Songwriting in the COVID-conscious (good airflow and screens) Music Shed (3 blocks from downtown Northampton). He would love to help you get more music and joy into your life. Josh has been teaching young children in local schools for over a decade, and now brings that gentleness and enthusiasm to children and adults who want to sing and play. joshkatzmusic.com

 LINKS we like: Pollinators, Native Bees, Monarch Butterflies

Xerces Society, including their Milkweed Seed Finder directory (we’re in it!)

Tom Sullivan, M.A.L.D., of Pollinators Welcome–designer of our Pollinator Habitat Nursery and presenter of workshops on pollinator health

NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA), a fantastic resource

Pollinate Northampton garden planning TOOLKITS

Farming/Seeds

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds offers many rare seeds. We enjoy helping to keep an old or endangered plant variety alive!

North Creek Nurseries continues to be a great source of native plugs and information.

Bionutrient Food Association and its principal, Dan Kittredge, offer a ton of important information about achieving soil health.

Tiny House living

We love the freedom and security tiny house living brings. Check out Jay Shafer’s tiny house designs, which follow design principles of the Golden Mean and rules for sane architecture as outlined by Christopher Alexander in the great book, A Pattern Language.