Big Agriculture has its genetic engineering and laserbeam weeding; on the tiny farm, sharpened wooden stakes and startling but harmless electric shocks are about as high tech as it gets. Today I laid out the groundhog electric fence line—poly rope with metal strands twisted in, strung at six inches (there’s another line at 28″ for the deer).
After last year’s first-time groundhog attack, this approach seemed to work. Still, that was later in the season, when the voracious little critters were already starting to get heavy and slow as they bulked up for hibernation. Maybe they were too lazy to put much energy into dealing with short, sharp shocks. This time around, they’re well-motivated, slimmed down, and hungry for the all-you-can-eat veggie buffet only a short waddle away. So…we’ll see! Weeds that touch the low line can draw off electricity—a new extra weeding job to add to the list…
