Peter Maurin Farm, Marlboro, NY

 

    I was only able to fit in a day's visit up to Peter Maurin Farm in Marlboro, New York but I’m sure glad I got the opportuniy to see it.

    The oh so beautiful Hudson Line runs north from New York along the river and I took it all the way to the end in Poughkeepsie where Tommy was generous enough to drive the 20 minutes to pick me up.

Rolling through the town of Marlboro, traditionally a commercial apple production area, Tommy told me that in recent years the area had suburbanized with the continual digitalization of some workplaces.

We passed the local Catholic Cemetary  and PMF’s neighbors who help them plow in the winter and crossed the bridge over the creek that demarcated the start of the farm.

Tommy parked next to a small house where his mother, Monica, and one other farm resident lived. He led me into her abode that would’ve been recognizable to any Catholic Worker farmer. Home grown spices, a wooden interior, mason jars filled with this or that, shelves of books sorted by theme: gardening, religion, peacemaking.

Next we moved to the “White House” where most of the PMF community is housed. Tommy lives over there with a fandful of men who found themselves in need of a place to stay. The basement of the White House features a chapel that hosts the Eucharist for those who seek out some prayer time.

The fields were next on the tour. I came at the end of the growing season so there wasn’t much but a few root vegetables left.

At PMF there are two main food growing fields: the upper which has inferior soil but is more conveniently and centrally located and the lower with better soil but takes a bit of a hike to get to. The upper field had both fenced and unfenced areas to facilitate deer vulnerable plants.

Tommy said the plan right now is to leave that lower field fallow for next season and concentrate on getting the upper field in better shape. The cover crop of clover and a sprinkling of oats was already starting to sprout during my visit.

I was then given a map and cut loose to explore the property on my own while Tommy worked on a writing project he needed to get done. 

No worries! I want to see what life is really like at the Catholic Workers I visit and sometimes that means the only CWer around has to go finish a project.

I did the entire circuit of the maintained walking path that goes all around the property. I passed the bees and the “prayer shed,” a small hermitage surrounded by forest. 

 

I crossed the ricketty bridge that I had been warned about repetedly and assured wasn’t really “THAT ricketty ” (it turned out maybe it was in fact “THAT ricketty ”). 

 

The pond was low, perhaps the lowest ever seen in Catholic Worker times, I was warned but it still looked still enticing with the prospect of canoeing or simply relaxing near by.

Relaxing back at the White House where I’d started my journey, one of the residents was happy to show off his collection of hot peppers and even sent me home with a bag.
I had dinner with Monica and Tommy before heading to the train. Monica had cooked up a vegitarian chilli with ingrediants mostly from the farm and home made cornbread. They were as eager to hear about how the midwest farmers were doing as I was to hear about the history of Peter Maurin farm.

On my way out the door Tommy loaded me up with a giant sack of garlic to take back to the NYC CWs. It must’ve been a site to see me on the subway!

More photos from Peter Maurin Farm