Much though I love fennel I have never thought of growing it before.  I tend to grow vegetables that I think will taste noticeably better if home grown and I wasn't sure that fennel could taste any better.  But this year the seed catalogues got the better of me and I have given it a try.  I haven't tasted it yet but it looks lovely.

The high tech machines that plastic wrap these post modern bales are pure genius.  They spin the bales around and stretch over the blue plastic in a matter of seconds.  Ands its all so that the cows can have rotting grass to feast on through the winter.

As part of the Guardian's creativity in the classroom series, poet John Hegley asked a child to describe the difference between a dog and a deckchair.  The response was,"Deckchairs don't fly", of course. I like that.

We have been receiving a steady stream of wonderful scarecrow photos, as you can see, and will be publishing a gallery shortly.  We have also received a scarecrow poem, which we thought you might enjoy...