| Sister Rose Marie Cummins, OP (Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine of Siena) Danny Ray Spalding, farm manager |
St. Catharine Farm and Dominican
Earth Center,
2645 Bardstown Rd.,
St. Catharine, KY40061;
(farm) 859-336-0444;
(center) 859-336-7778;
rosieop@kyol.net;
www.opkentucky.org
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KY
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* The Community of St. Catharine of Siena is located on 640 acres including the Motherhouse, congregational offices, college, 150 acres of woodland about one-half of which is managed sustainably; 94 acres corn; 140 acres hay and pasture; 25 acres in Conservation Reserve Program; 10 acres organic garden; 15 acres buildings, feedlot, and two ponds.walking trail, Jonquil Ridge, a recycling center, beehives, two earth retreat cabins, and orchards. 172 acres of the farm is being used to demonstrate managed intensive grazing to local farmers with the University of Kentucky and the beef raised in this environmentally sound manner is provided to the Motherhouse and the affiliated Sansbury infirmary. The community is working to change consciousness from stewardship to interconnectedness with the web of life and conducts related programs at the Earth Center throughout the year. The center has a children’s educational garden that introduces the primarily Latino children to concepts of diversity, care of creation, interdependence and provides fresh, organically grown produce to their families and to retreatants. The community is reassessing its philosophy of property use and developing a land ethic. A land trust committee is exploring ways to protect the community-owned land for the future. [2003] |