HYPNING

"At hyppe" in Danish means to hoe. In fact a particular way to hoe, in which you lift the earth up and cover your potatoes or leeks by the side of the little ditch that you have made. Potatoes don't like sun, it makes them go green and poisonous. By covering most of the plants, you protect the tubers and allow them to get bigger under the soil. That's what I have just done in the kitchen garden.

Potatoes being a large part of Danish agriculture, hyppe has also given rise to a fair number of proverbs. "At hyppe sine egne kartofler" (literally to hoe your own potatoes) means to look after number one; I suppose a bit like to hoe one's own farrow. And "at have nogle private kartofler at hyppe" (literally to have some private potatoes to hoe) means to have an axe to grind.

I don't know about an axe, but I do have some nice-looking potato plants.

Walter Blotscher