Topic archive

Tag Earth

As Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross, we are called to care for Earth in its pain, to celebrate its beauty, and to create space for its healing. Recognizing our role as one of interdependent partnership with all Creation has been part of Loretto’s mission throughout our history. We reaffirmed our commitment to resist systems and conditions that violate Earth and all species in 2018, calling ourselves to “significantly mitigate our impact on climate change and ecological degradation.” We invite any who are interested to join with us on this journey of ecological conversion. Learn more about our mission to protect Earth.

The Story of the Land

A wide green pasture with small sheds far in the distance and thick green trees behind.

This is the story of the land that was to become a new Loretto. In 1785 Basil Hayden led 20 families from St. Mary’s County in Maryland to their land grant in central Kentucky. The grant was located at the…

Cultivation

Strip Grazing For our grass-fed and finished beef cattle production we need superb quality forages to keep our animals growing. The most successful forages we have found have been summer and winter annuals which are planted each year and grow…

Innovation

Working with Gravity Cattle need more water in their diet than any other single component. Therefore, it is extremely important to have it available in ample supply and in good quality. As we are continually improving the farm, we are…

Education

Students gather and listen to man standing on a hayrack.

Local Farmers Bringing local farmers onto our land for field days with multiple agriculture specialists from the University of Kentucky and other places is one component of our education efforts. As you can see, even our calves are part of…

Conservation

Controlled Burning Part of our Conservation Reserve acres are planted in native warm season grasses that thrive in the summer months, providing great habitat for many types of wildlife and storing carbon from the atmosphere in the soil!  Unfortunately, the…

Earth’s Gratitude

An illustrated poster of a green landscape, with a blue lake, a full rainbow, and a blue sky with white fluffy clouds. The text in the sky says: Care for our mother Earth. In the rainbow, the text says

‘Am I living in a way that Earth would be grateful for me?’ This is the question I was faced with recently after reading a Robin Wall Kimmerer article on returning Earth’s gifts. My gratitude for Earth, though undoubtedly inadequate,…