That's A Plenty Farm

08/25/2026

Good News! Michael’s 18-month journey of dental implant oral surgery and reconstruction (following cancer treatment) is almost complete. What kept him healing and healthy during this long period when he had to follow a soft food diet? I wrote it down as The Soft Gourmet.

As his caregiver cook, I learned what makes food easy to swallow. I explored ways to pack in important calories for a person who was eating less food because eating was suddenly more difficult. I developed a system for transforming our favorite dishes into safe-to-swallow and delicious soft food, and I became proficient at boosting healing nutrition. The soft foods I prepared had another effect: they helped allay boredom and depression as healing stretched on—it was food to look forward to!

To help myself manage my kitchen time and budget, I developed a soft foods strategy and compiled a collection of nutritious recipes (written by my favorite cooks) that could sustain us (yes, us! I have eaten the same menu) without getting boring through a year and a half of toothlessness.

At the outset, I searched for help with a soft food diet, but did not find what I needed. So I wrote myself a book—The Soft Gourmet—which I have self-published through That’s a Plenty Farm Press. We are still happily using the cookbook 18 months later.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Periodontists, and ENT Physicians across the country are now recommending The Soft Gourmet to their patients. For more information—and to download a free informational flyer, read more at https://thesoftgourmet.com

06/24/2026

Take beautiful action: plant a pollinator-friendly garden -- source your plants and seeds from local nurseries and farms offering no-spray Native plants. Want Monarchs? Plant milkw**d!

05/29/2026

Our seedlings are ready for local (Hadley MA) pickup -- email us to set an appointment - [email protected]

Seeds collected by hand at our farm were planted outside in trays (Jan 2026):

Agastache foeniculum, anise hyssop
Amsonia tabernaemontana, eastern bluestar
Asclepias incarnata, rose milkw**d
Asclepias syriaca, common milkw**d
Asclepias tuberosa, butterfly milkw**d
Baptisia australis, blue false indigo
Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower
Eryngium yuccifolium, rattlesnake master
Eupatorium fistulosum, Joe Pye w**d
Heliopsis helianthoides, ox-eye sunflower
Liatris spicata, blazing star
Lupinus perennis, sundial lupine
Monarda fistulosa, wild bergamot
Penstemon digitalis, foxglove beardtongue
Rudbeckia hirta, black-eyed Susan
Salvia azurea, blue sage
Verbena stricta, hoary vervain
Vernonia glauca, broadleaf ironw**d
Veronicastrum virginicum, Culver’s root (endangered)

01/29/2026

This just in from sister Mary: Big day today I It’s official. Signed at 8:10am. It was even on TV. Mine really turned blue. Don't forget that tomorrow starts the new Facebook rule (aka... new name, META) where they can use your photos. Don't forget the deadline is today!!!
Hold your finger anywhere in this message and “copy” will appear. Click “copy”. Then go to your page, create a new post and place your finger anywhere in the empty field. “Paste” will appear and click Paste.
This will bypass the system….
He who does nothing consents
According to the show 60 Minutes:
Just in case you missed it: a lawyer advised us to post this. The violation of privacy can be punished by law NOTE: Facebook Meta is now a public entity. Every member must post a note like this. If you do not publish a statement at least once, it will be technically understood that you are allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in your profile status updates.
I HEREBY DECLARE THAT I DO NOT GIVE MY PERMISSION FOR FACEBOOK OR META TO USE ANY OF MY PERSONAL DATA. I do not give consent!
I Do Not allow Meta to use any of my photos!!

01/28/2026

"But what can I eat?" asks anyone ever who has had major oral surgery or cancer treatment to the head and neck. "Eat a Soft Food diet" answers the surgeon. "But what can I eat?" you ask again.
Finally a practical answer: "The Soft Gourmet: Eating Well On A Soft Food Diet" has just been published by me!--a book by a caregiver-cook that emerged over a year of cooking for my 80+ year-old husband, who began major dental reconstruction in January 2025.
Our surgeon and reconstruction dentist both say "This book is a game-changer."
READ MORE at

Following a Soft Food Diet for even a few weeks can be daunting. This cookbook, full of recipes and strategies for cooking healthy, delicious soft foods, is your partner in boosting nutrition, banishing boredom, and accelerating healing following oral/maxillofacial surgery, dental implant reconstruc...

03/02/2024

FINALLY! The 2024 version of our Pollinator Garden Planning Deck has been released to the US and UK by Princeton Architectural Press, and it is gorgeous. The cards are a bit larger this time, and they come in an elegant hard box. So fun! You can order it now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online sellers. If you're a local, find it at Broadside Bookshop in Northampton. https://smarturl.it/ThePollinatorGardenPlanningDeck

07/20/2023

This is what resilience looks like. After all these weeks of intense heat, terrible air, and a sequence of downpours, the native plants in our pollinator habitat are taking care of the bees, butterflies, and birds. These native plants co-evolved with the native pollinators, and together they work a system that allows everything to thrive. Start planting for pollinators!

05/24/2023

It's NO-MOW MAY! Leave those new spring plants untouched to give nectar and pollen to the Queens emerging from hibernation. Read more here:

"No Mow May" is a quick and catchy name for a movement that aims far beyond not mowing the yard for a month. It's more than long grass and dandelion blooms. It's a gateway to understanding how we share our lawns with many small creatures.

04/13/2023

Here's some GOOD NEWS to share: a paper published by our local UMASS biology scientists shows evidence that SUNFLOWERS are beneficial to Eastern bumble bees--both for reducing gut disease and increasing the reproduction of female queens. And we know from the farm that sunflowers are incredibly popular with a wide range of insects and birds. A caution: the seedling are popular with rodents, so we plant directly into little cylinders of small-mesh hardware cloth (like a small fence) that we stand in the soil....read on!

03/19/2023

Early spring garden cleanup can disrupt critical invertebrate habitat and leave pollinators out in the cold. Our guidelines will help you determine when cleaning up won't bug the pollinators in your space.