Brother Placid, a monk in Peosta, Iowa, is quite the multitasker. Now in his 80s, Brother Placid came to New Melleray Abbey in 1955 and has since both worked and run the farm there. On top of his farm life obligations, Brother Placid also served as a makeshift carpenter and janitor at a nearby Abbey.

In later years, Brother Placid used farming equipment, like the used tractors and John Deere farming machines that visitors could routinely see driving throughout the farm, but in the early days, Brother Placid says that the monks actually farmed with oxen, using the animals to pull their farming machines.

Interestingly enough, Brother Placid admits to Agri News that even though he grew up steeped in farm life on his parent's farm in northern Minnesota, he "didn't really want to be in farming" when he was a young boy. He affirms that when he first arrived at the monastery, he wanted to "cut grass or wash dishes," but recalls that once his superiors realized that he was capable, he "was planting oats right off the bat."

Although he has retired, Brother Placid still works on his organic garden, vineyard and orchard. In a greenhouse he constructed nearby with his own hands, he grows vegetables all year round. He asserts that farming is very satisfying and that in nature, "you acknowledge that God definitely has his finger in the whole show."