Green Bio
Tim Mountz and Amy Bloom farm some of the country’s most historic land, beginning with two acres in Winterthur, Del., where Bloom works as a horticulturalist. From their Happy Cat Farm in Kennett Square, Mountz has become quite the specialist in heirloom tomatoes. He’s amassed a seed collection that boasts 800 varieties—some of it traded from Native Americans to Germans upon their arrival in Pennsylvania. “Our approach to green is the foundation of our business plan,” says Mountz. “Using sustainable and regenerative practices on our farm has helped us grow and pushed us into the best way of thinking.”
Green Innovations
Happy Cat uses no chemicals to create an intact local food system. Mountz is currently working with Mark Highland at Organic Mechanics Soil Company in Chester County on a windowsill growing system made out of recycled materials. Happy Cat is also making its own charcoal (biochar) from oak tomato stakes, turning it into a soil additive.
Bragging Rights
“Our proudest green product is a bean seed that I got from my grandfather in 1993, when he was killed in a car accident,” says Mountz. “The bean had been extinct for 70 years. This year, we’ll grow 1/16 of an acre of it, introducing it into our seed business.”
Fun Fact
“What is now called ‘green’ is what people have called ‘local’ for a long time,” says Mountz. “The Brandywine Valley and Main Line have been all about local since they were named.”
Green Dream
A greenhouse complex heated sustainably by biochar and solar power.
Contact
(610) 217-7723, happycatorganics.com.
