It was written as a challenge to get Frampton Magnum Plum into a hymn.

Framptom Magnum Plum - is alternatively known as the Winterbourne Magnum Plum.
It is a local South Gloucestershire variety.
The old orchards have long since disappeared but the remnants remain.
In lots of gardens and hedgerows the trees still produce large, purple skinned plums with amber flesh and the stone is not a free stone.
The fruit is juicy and semi- sweet and a good all rounder. Great to eat staight off the tree - but you could never eat the whole crop!
Great in jams. chutneys. jellies, cheese,  sweet or savoury sauces and delicious ice cream. My favourite is pickled plums - sounds weird but tastes fantastic especially with cold meats or cheese.

Anyway, enough praise of the Frampton Magnum Plum - here’s the hymn. 

Orchard Praise (to be sung to the tune of We Plought the Fields and Scatter.

We thank you for the orchards – what riches can be found!
The peace and the tranquillity, the beauty all around.
The fruit in rainbow colours, the flavours on our tongues,
Of apples, pears, and gages and Frampton Magnum plums.

Chorus:
All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above,
So thank the Lord, oh Thank the Lord, for all his love.

We prune the trees and gather the branches on the ground
And pile it into habitats where creatures can abound;
With lots of nooks and crannies where bees can hibernate
The blossoms in the springtime they then can pollinate.

We thank you for the wildlife, its great diversity,
A clever ecosystem that’s supported by a tree
With grubs and bugs and beetles, and butterflies and bees,
And hedgehogs, birds and squirrels in natures harmony.

If you like it - please feel free to use it. You could subsitute the words Frampton Magnum Plums with ‘and cherry, quince and plums.’ (But there’s no real subsitute for the Magnum!!!!)

Alhough the science is contested the key is to work out what question is being asked.  For example if the question is will GM produce higher outputs from monoculture farming next year than the answer is yes.  However if we ask other questions the answer may be no For example;

_ incraesed GM yields are not likely to be sustainable - soil exhaustion, salinisation or pests may reduce yields in the medium-term
_ GM seeds are often ‘suicide seeds’.  They don’t reproduce increasing farmer indebtedness in terms of buying expensive inputs every year
_ Polyculture farming is more efficient in terms of producing the nutrients people need.  For example GM was widely hailed for producing rice with a vitamin added which would provent premature blindness.  The problem is any kind of balanced diet would do the same, the sort of balanced diet poeple had before monoculture for export was adopted!

The Lord is my allotment keeper, I’ll not be in want.
He makes desert places fertile, he irrigates the dry land,
The touch of creation restores my soul.
He teaches me the rhythm of the seasons to be in touch with the earth for His Kingdom’s sake.
Even though the weeds may grow, or the rains dry up, or the crops get eaten or disease hits, or pests invade, I will not fear,
For you work with me, your faithfulness and constancy reassure me.
You prepare a feast for me, from the fruit of the land and the hedgerows and fields, in the presence of consumerism.
The blessings of your creation fill my thinking, my being, my basket.
Surely I am truly blessed, you provide abundantly for all who will share and live in the Kingdom way. Amen.

After Greenbelt I thought perhaps others might be looking at the Earth Abbey website from around Suffolk and that there may be some interest in starting a discussion on what could happen in our area.

I noticed for instance that nearly 450 people have looked at the Ipswich thread above.

I live in Aldeburgh and form part of a group called Soul Sanctuary, which is an alternative worship group at the Parish Church. We have put in a funding bid to show twelve films in 2011 exploring the theme ‘The impact of modern life on communities and the environment.’ Our hope is that from this a group will emerge that can take forward the issues locally that come our from the films.

As I say if you are in Suffolk please do get in touch, to post here you need to register. I found the page quite hard to find, but if you send an e-mail via the ‘contact us page’ you’ll be directed to the right registration page.

Alternatively e-mail me at james at ogden-jenkins dot myzen dot co dot uk and we can start up a discussion that way.

Hope to hear from some of you soon.

James

- but it would be good to hear why people have gone for the particular system that they are using.

I am aware that there are the high tec evacuated tubes as well as a variety of more simple concepts available.

We are also keen to hear stories of the process of installation and maintenance and the energy saving that you think you are achieving.

You can find a review of the year here, but it is really not complete without you adding your story.

Best wishes for 2010

Our original frustration was to do with the painstaking process of finding and identifying mushrooms. Our first forages led us to hundreds of different mushrooms – so they’re easy to find, but they’re difficult to identify accurately and with mushrooms that really matters. And, it turns out that it is hard to find the ones you’re looking for.

We adopted this approach, instead of stopping at each mushroom and trying to identify it in our various field guides (there are over 3,000 out there and less than 300 in our books) we learned how to identify the top 15 worth eating, like Ceps, Field Mushrooms, Chanterelle, Puffballs, Boletes, Chicken of the Woods and Oyster mushrooms.

The problem then comes in trying to find them. But that is a good excuse to get out here of an autumn weekend.

Anyway. I’ve started this thread to see if anyone wants to talk about mushrooming this Autumn. We’ve so far found Shaggy Ink Cap in the lawn of the Arch-deacon of Halifax’s garden. And my garden has sprouted a huge mass of brown toadstools under a rotten log – but I’m not going to bother identifying them as I know they’re not on my list of the ones worth eating.

Below are Puffballs and Amethyst Deceivers we found and cooked last Autumn. Happy Hunting.

Alan and Kaye invite you to a relaxed evening in which to bring and share stories that inspire, challenge, motivate or underpin our desire for a more sustainable and enriching way of life. You may have a favourite author/writer (fiction or non-fiction), poet, musician, visionary, activist, a religious text, or a personal lifestory that you return to again and again for wisdom, wonder and wellbeing.

Sunday Nov 15th 8 for 8.15pm         “Ectopia: Challenges from a future earth citizen”

Foundation Bristol hosts EarthAbbey for an evening of interaction and reflection on our future society’s energy sources, narrated by a future earth citizen

At Cotham Parish Church, Cotham Road, Bristol BS6 6DG

Finishing around 9pm, with an invitation to Highbury Vaults pub afterwards

Sunday Nov 22nd 1pm     Through Leigh Woods

A leisurely walk, with Alan, Gareth, Steve and Moira, through Leigh Woods stopping every so often to observe a tree, identify it and listen to a poem. Bring a flask with your preferred beverage, biscuits and cakes provided. Path is circular and buggy friendly. Meet at main car park to Leigh Woods at 1pm. Map here Moving at 1.15pm to wood entrance (with display boards), following purple trail. Late or lost – phone 07929090153.

Saturday November 28th 3 for 3.30pm       Considering… ‘The Sermon on the Allotment’

With Tim Lawrence, a reflection on consumerism and grace in nature as taught by Christ, together with pumpkin soup and hot apple juice. Ends 4.30pm.

On Dundry View Community Allotment – found off Speedwell Rd between Plummers Hill and Cecil Ave, down a little lane, which will be near Tim’s bright yellow van. The gate to the allotments is at the end of this 50m lane. Climb over the gate and walk straight ahead and then through the gap (tractor size) in the hedge to get into the community allotment (look for the bay tree).

And to say that Laurie MacIntyre is visiting Bristol and would like to meet EarthAbbey people on Monday 16th November in the morning. He leads a church community in Australia that has recently re-imagined itself as an Abbey.

For more info on any of these events use the contact button on the home page or phone 07929090153

Wulf