Hedgerow Harvest

   One of the great plusses about cycling around the fens is watching the seasons change, from the cold frost covered mornings of December and January to the warm sun-filled mornings of mid-summer and one time of year I look forward too is the hedgerow harvest. When we enter August and the thoughts of autumn are starting to wander into our heads I'm out there searching through that beautiful natural larder that mother nature hands us each year. The hedgerows are like a foragers supermarket with a huge variety of fruits, nuts and herbs. For me, it's the fruit that fills my backpack from the tiny wild plums to the lager cooking apples that seem to have self-set beside many roads and lanes.

   This year seems to be an amazing year for wild fruit, the blackberries are everywhere, I myself have stood for hours picking them for the freezer. The number of wild plum trees I'm sure is growing each year, I must pass a hundred on my travels here in the flatlands and of course, the Elderberries are everywhere, perfect for jams and wine.

   I must mention it's not just fruit that I gather this time of year, with a lot of the basic food crops grown here in the fens it's now that the potatoes and onions are lifted which means many of these left laying at the edges of fields and roadsides, so I do glean a few just as folk did when I was a kid.

Emneth Scarecrow Festival

   It's that time of year again, the week when the village of Emneth hold their Scarecrow Festival and what a year it is. I took photographs last year but this year there are far more scarecrows entered into the competition, I think I've taken pictures of nearly 70 in total, some of which you can see here below.

   I must say from the start I think holding a festival such as this is a perfect way to bring a village together, it's great seeing all the scarecrows, yes, but more importantly, it's a wonderful way for families to work together in building their creations. During my morning cycles this week I have noticed each day yet more scarecrows appearing in front gardens and the wide selection is amazing, from straw lions to Spiderman and Nelson, it's great to see what imagination people have.

   I think I have several favourites, I love "The Mole Catcher" and "The scarecrow Wedding" but I think the "Lion King" takes some beating as far as straw work goes.

   I must admit this year has been a real pleasure cycling around Emneth trying to locate scarecrows, it was a great way to help make my daily cycle more than just exercise. I met some really nice people and discovered that the village is more than the main road that we all seem to travel when passing through on our way to Wisbech, 18 years I've now lived in this area and I never realized how big the village was.
   The people of Emneth really do deserve great applause for all their hard work and should be very proud of themselves, I hope other fen villages follow their example, what a great way for a village to celebrate the summer. I'm sorry I couldn't put every scarecrow in this post but I hope I've shown the wide selection there is to see. So if you have time I strongly recommend that you go along to take a look.