Downsizing and death by electrocution

Downsizing and death by electrocution – now there is a title for an article about a vegetable garden that you will not read every day.  Downsizing and death by electrocution just what on earth is going on?

Okay let’s deal with the downsizing first.  This morning I went to my local supplier of plants further down the valley and bought some tomato plants ready for planting.  Normally this time of year the huge greenhouses constructed with bent tubes and plastic sheeting are only half full of plants as the bulk of them would already have been planted.  This year with the strange weather that we have been having recently,  everything has been put back so I had a full choice of which type of tomatoes I wanted to grow.

In the end I chose four types,  two of which were recommended as the best for growing tomatoes which will end up as pomarola  (article here) and the other two, perfect for salads.

Some basil plants were also brought with the ultimate idea of making pesto later on in the season and half a dozen zucchini plants.  The rest of the plants that will be needed this year will be picked up later on next week once the field has been prepared and maybe just maybe,  when all the sudden cold snaps have stopped and warm weather finally arrives.

Every year so far I have bought and planted 100 tomato plants.  This year only 50. Let the downsizing begin.

Back on the field the plants were quickly put into the ground and a fairly large patch of earth rotovated in preparation tomorrow for the maize seeds.

Then it was time to put up the poles and wire for the electric fence around the second lower field  to protect the new plants and seeds from the deer and wild boar.  It was while I was  wiring up the second electric fence that I heard a dog yelping in pain.  One of the local residents exercises and trains his hunting dogs in the field below mine and one of his dogs had followed his nose directly onto the electric fence surrounding the potato field.

Now at least I know that it’s working and won’t have to test it myself.  I switched off the power and went to check that the fence had not been damaged  and as soon as I reached the area where the dog had touched the wire it became immediately obvious why he had been so curious.  Sitting there in the mud  just below the wire was a very large red toad.  I ran back to get my camera thinking by the time I come back the toad will have moved.  In fact as you can see from the images,  that toad was going nowhere.  The electric fence which was designed to keep out marauding porcupines had just claimed its first victim. The poor toad had touched the wire and because he or she was sitting in a muddy puddle,  the shock proved too much. End of story for him or her.

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