“It’s a beautiful tomato,” Josh Arcaro coos just outside of the kitchen at Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center. “I would cut this up into sixths or eighths, leave it raw, drizzle it with extra-virgin olive oil.” Mr. Arcaro is the...
The Garden at Mariandale was put to bed for the winter. As I stand before the seventeen raised beds, now seeded with winter rye to bring fresh nourishment for the spring, I am caught in a kind of reverie. I recall the fresh energy of new beginnings from former spring...
In her office dotted with wooden sculptures and Earth posters, Dominican Sister of Hope Bette Ann Jaster pores over a long, hand-written list of “beautiful solutions” sitting on her lap. These solutions, she enthusiastically explains, are intended to address climate...
