For the first time since we planted tiny Passion Flower vine cuttings around two of the established trees .. this year, after 3 years growing strongly up amongst their hosts' branches .. a few flowers appeared followed by some fruit, which was falling to the ground with the force of the July rains.

Passion Fruit have a juicy orange flesh that contains several soft edible seeds .. and with their bittersweet flavour .. are something of an acquired taste. It was the first time I had seen this fruit,
an added bonus to my planning for a future glorious display of beautiful Passion Flowers.

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Just some of the colourful varieties of Passion Flowers
With thanks to Heidi Claire who collected these images from Flikr

Not only were the plants growing strongly, so were the weeds. It is a constant task to keep the ground clear of them for Babucar at this time of year, replacing all the watering in the dry months.
In a rare moment of enthusiasm for some physical labour, I offered to help Babucar with the weeding and said I would clear the area around the Okra, whilst he concentrated on the Cassava plot.

OK, so his area was 10 times larger than mine, with many more weeds and grass to root out ..
which he was quick to point out. But as I remarked, he is 30 years younger than me and the crops would be sold entirely for his own monetary benefit .. plus, despite all the good natured teasing between us .. I think he is still supposed to be working for me, not the other way round !!

So we set to work with a will. Although there was no rain, it was a hot and very humid day and determined to show how the job should be done 'properly', I carefully removed every trace of unwanted growth around the Okra plants, which were still in their infancy and required me to squat on my haunches and weed them by hand. It was time-consuming work and very very sweaty.

So after a stop for lunch, I removed my soaking wet shirt and carried on, assuming that I was safe from any biting insects, as I hadn't seen any and had liberally sprayed myself with mosquito repellent earlier in the day. Perhaps my legs will ache a bit tomorrow, I thought and finished the job.

Surprisingly, the next day my legs were fine with no aches or stiffness .. unlike my back .. which was absolutely covered with hundreds of bites from tiny black midges, which the locals call mutu mutu and are too small to easily see. Luckily they do not carry diseases and if the bites are not scratched, kept clean and free from infection, they disappear in a few days without too much irritation. Foolishly I had forgotten that when your body is dripping with sweat, any repellent has been washed away.

The next day, the muscles in my legs had seized up so much that I could hardly walk !!!
Why one suffers two days after unfamiliar physical exertion in Africa, instead of the day after, as it would be in the UK, I do not know, but I was in agony for days. Next time I feel the need to 'muck in with the workers', I will remember the maxim that the art of good management is delegation ..
and leave it to Babucar !!

With the ground clear of weeds and the crops growing .. there was little else to organise, so we took a trip over to see Abli Zimba ( our well digger ) and look at the developments in his professional gardening, since we saw him planting in the Spring. As usual, our amateur efforts paled into insignificance compared to his neatly laid out and strongly growing crops ... well in advance of ours.

Showing the results that can be achieved with constant attention given to watering, weeding and
pest control .. and a lot of very hard physical work.