A Sad Slow Worm

We're digging new vegetable beds in the back garden. It took us ages to clear the slope of bracken and brambles when we first built the house, and for most of the time since then it's been grass. Now, as our fruit and vegetable-growing expertise expands with our ambitions, we need more space.

The tool of choice for breaking ground is this African hoe, called a jembe in eastern and a badza in central Africa. Since wielding it is hard work, it's usually a job for the women. By lifting it over one's head, tremendous force can be exerted even on the hardest ground.

Sadly, it's difficult suddenly to stop in the middle of the down-stroke. This slow worm was a casualty, as it suddenly slipped out of the very turf at which the speeding blade was aimed. The injury appeared slight, and the beast slitered away into the long grass, but damage was certainly done.

On a quite different note, after the potato problems reported here, we're beginning to harvest a crop. Whatever it was that got to the leaves, it doesn't seem to have affected the tubers too badly - and they certainly taste good. But then, anything that has been grown in the garden always tastes better than a supermarket product.