31 May May 2026 Digest

Welcome back to Mucknell Abbey, where we’ve just about survived the recent heatwave. Being swathed in black fabric is not a great look in the heat; fortunately we are permitted to go without our habits when the temperature really gets high. High temperatures also give the boiler a break, which is fortunate as our boiler has finally been declared beyond repair, after many months of “issues”. So we’re getting a new one fitted hopefully soon-ish, which should drastically reduce the amount of time Br. Jonny and others have to spend coaxing heat and hot water out of it. Beyond the boiler shed, however, both garden and estate are bursting with life: read on to find out more!

In the Garden

We’re busily growing all sorts in the kitchen garden: the cherries are starting to ripen, the raspberries are setting fruit, and I’ve even spied a couple of strawberries turning colour. The blackcurrant and redcurrant bushes are also promising a decent harvest. Beyond the fruit, the potatoes are growing well, and the first carrot seedlings have poked up their heads. We’ve also got runner beans, leeks, cabbages, mangetout and lettuce growing, and in the greenhouse the tomatoes, sweet peppers and cucumber plants are really getting established.

As well as feeding us, we try to make the kitchen garden an attractive place for pollinators. One action towards this is growing phacelia in any empty beds. Phacelia is one of several plants often grown as ‘green manure‘; these plants provide useful ground cover, helping to suppress weeds, and can be dug back into the soil to add nutrients. We use the ‘no-dig’ system, and so either pull up the phacelia and lay it on the beds as a mulch, or pull it up and add it to the compost heap. We favour phacelia because it grows quickly and is quite shallow rooted, therefore comes out of the ground easily. Its purple flowers are very attractive, and it is also adored by a huge variety of bees:

I also managed to record a little clip of the bees on the phacelia – turn your volume up to hear them too:

On the Estate

The wider estate, too, is looking beautiful, and brimming with wildlife. There are various (very cute) baby birds getting the hang of their wings, and the geese, too, have been seen a couple of times with two goslings:

Novices Galore

At the very end of last month, Sr. Alison attended the Novice Guardians Conference at Mirfield, and had a great week sharing with other Novice Guardians:

We then had the great pleasure of hosting the novices themselves for one of their thrice yearly study weeks. They were looking at early monastic history, and had three days of teaching led by Br. Jonny, Br. Adrian, and Russell, a friend of ours who runs the website Ordinary Theology. Around the formal programme, they also enjoyed time to socialise together, and to meet the Mucknell Community too.

Rocky’s Ramblings

Rocky has mostly continued in his usual routine this month. Br. Stuart did notice that he came in one morning bearing “war wounds”, consisting of a slight tear in one ear, of which he seemed rather proud. The injury was not serious enough to merit the attentions of the vet. A couple of days ago, I wandered down to Br. Stuart’s room to try and get a photo of Rocky, at which point he disappeared under the bed. Rocky, not Br. Stuart:

Fortunately, Br. Stuart was able to provide me with a few rather more attractive and cooperative recent photos:

And finally…

The first word of the Rule of Benedict is “listen”. I’ve been reminded of this walking round the estate lately, and hearing the huge variety of birdsong. I’ve noticed how its character changes as I come to different parts of our grounds, as different birds join and leave the mix. In the collect to Psalm 98, we pray for God to “tune the song of our hearts to the music of creation“, and I was struck by the very great variety of the “music of creation”, how much there is for us to hear, to be open to, to tune in to, that we might receive all that God has made, and in “tuning the song of our hearts”, may be made more and more into God’s image. I hope and pray that we might all find time to hear God’s music scattered throughout the world. Amen.