By Sister Donna Maria Moses, O.P.

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”  The book of Genesis reminds us that if we take care of the land, the land will take care of us, but landscape and agricultural plans are changing dramatically in response to the drought in California.  Many efforts are underway to sustain the fertile land that once was called the Valley of the Heart’s Delight for future generations.  Soon after it was founded in 1797, Mission San Jose was one of the largest cattle ranches in California with productive vineyards, olive groves, orchards and fields of wheat, all watered by a primitive aqueduct system.  The vineyards and wheat fields are long gone since the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose purchased the property in 1891, but the original olive grove still delivers abundant fruit for the extra virgin olive oil the Sisters produce.

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