| Guided by an ethic of
reverence, stewardship, justice, and interconnectedness,
the
Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine, Kentucky, are
committed to ecological stewardship, economic justice,
and sustainable living. The Sisters practice sustainable
living, environmental education, and Earth spirituality
on their 700 acres of land, which includes a college,
health care facility, working farm, Dominican Earth
Center, and the Congregation’s Motherhouse.
Their ecological education center includes 150
acres of woodland, 170 acres of pasture, ten acres
of organic gardens, and a seven-acre model of sustainable
living called Jonquil Ridge. In addition to making
a walking trail with Earth stations through one
of their three timberland preserves, the Sisters
have placed fifteen acres of former cropland in
a Conservation Reserve Program run by the state.
They have built
a recycling center, two earth-friendly retreat
cabins, and an environmental education center that
offers two annual series of experiential programs
on themes such as sustainability, healing, and
allegiance to the Earth. At the present time, the
ten-acre garden, named Peacemeal Organic Gardens,
provides fresh organic produce to Sansbury Care
Center, a state-licensed health care center, and
to local residents through a Farmers’ Market.
The gardens are used to educate local Mexican children
about earth stewardship, gardening, and basic ecological
principles. In cooperation with the University
of Kentucky, the Congregation has devoted more
than 170 acres of its land to demonstrate ecologically-sound
intensive grazing techniques. Guided by the Congregation’s
Vision Statement which calls the Sisters to contemplate
the interconnectedness of God’s creation,
to live simply and sustainably, to oppose violence,
and to transform oppressive structures, the Land
Trust Committee is working to develop a land ethic
that will help protect the ecological integrity
of their land into the future. The Coordinator
of the Earth Center also writes a monthly Earth
Alert column in four local newspapers (Springfield,
Lebanon, Bardstown, and Louisville). |
Christianity
(Roman Catholic) |
United States of America
(St. Catharine, Kentucky) |
| 1997–Present |
The Congregation
of Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine, Kentucky,
was founded in 1822. The
Sisters were gifted with 100 acres of land that
they
worked from the very beginning. In the early
1980s, a Kentucky State Forester helped to initiate
the
Timberland Stand Improvement program at St. Catharine
Farm with a grant from the United States Forestry
Department. The Earth retreat cabins were constructed
using
ecological design in 1998–1999. The cabins
were built by Robert Fairchild, a local builder
whose
concerns about the Earth guided all his architectural
decisions, and they include a compost toilet,
solar energy, and a wood stove. A recycling program
was initiated in the early 1990s. In 1999 a new
recycling
center, a resource library, and an Earth center
office were added to the farm. The staff has
been running a children’s garden project
since the summer of 2001, and an expanded organic
garden
project that was launched in October, 2002. Most
recently, the project’s gardener took a
course in permaculture, and a grant received
in July of
2003 from The Kentucky
Division of Forestry will enable the Earth Center
to implement permaculture principles in the garden.
The Earth Center is also weighing possibilities
for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project
and new Earth cabins in the near future.
|
| “The Dominican
Earth Center, a ministry of the Dominicans of St.
Catharine, Kentucky, is
a model ecological learning center, committed to
earth literacy, earth spirituality, and sustainable
living. Aware of the interconnectedness of all
God’s creation, we open ourselves to the
wisdom of the universe. We collaborate in earth-friendly
endeavors with the larger community of central
Kentucky and beyond.” |
The Dominican Alliance
Kentucky Care for the
Earth Committee
University of Kentucky Extension
Service
Kentucky Division of Forestry
Grantors include:
Kentucky Foundation for Women
Sisters of Charity
of Nazareth
Sisters of Charity, Cincinnati
Raskob Foundation |
| None Listed |
| None Listed |
| None Listed |
St. Catharine Farm and Dominican Earth Center
2645 Bardstown Rd.
St. Catharine, KY 40061
Email: rosieop@kyol.net
Additional Contact Information
Dominican Earth Center Contact
Sr. Rose Marie
Cummins
Ph: 859.336.7778
Farm Contact
Danny Ray Spalding
Ph: 859.336.0444
|
