Topic: Ways of keeping mice from peas?

[sweet-pea]

I had same problem with poor showing of peas, but I decided to try sprouting some seed before planting them, and I think that worked pretty well.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I had virtually no crop but that was down to the drought. I put them under cloches, and got excellent germination, and no flea beetle damage. Other crops which weren't cloched had major damage when they slowed down during the drought.

[Simon05]

a gardener on our plots, puts holly leaves in the row among the peas, he said the mice dont like it when they prickle there noses

[tim]

Or, as we did this year without intent (they were intended for pea shoots) sow in a tray & then slice into lengths & plant. Worked fine.

[artichoke]

Fully agree, Supersprout.  I also found that if I germinated broad beans and peas in damp kitchen paper and a plastic bag in the airing cupboard, and sowed them as soon as the root began to appear, the mice left them alone. According to some, the taste of a germinated legume is not as pleasant as one before it germinates. This is slightly less trouble than growing them into plants in guttering, then transplanting, though I have tried that too. All around me on plot one last year, neighbours had rows of neat little holes across their plots where the mice had removed their beans. 

Having said that, I have just sown ungerminated broad beans in my new plot  where I don't think (touch wood) that the mice have yet discovered allotments to be a source of food, as there are so few of us on a big site and no-one else grows broad beans.

[calendula]

some great ideas here already but if you don't like the idea of having to buy guttering then any module seed tray will do - I use the ones that have 15 square and deepish sowing holes to them and put approx 5 peas into each

the alternative is not to sow at this time of year cos this is when the mice will be eager to find food and sowing in spring often catches up with autumn sown

[saddad]

They also like stored potatoes, sunflower seedheads and so on... I very inhumanely got over thirty of the little so and so's last winter but we haven't started the offensive yet as they are still out in the warm...
 ::)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Mine were very active in the shed, though there's been no sign of rats yet. They're still in the compost bins outside. The mice had some of my seeds that I was saving so their funerals were held shortly after.

[artichoke]

Digging out my compost recently I exposed a mouse nest. I felt very cruel, but as there was nothing else I could do, I put the babies into a hedge to die peacefully (I hope).

[Robert_Brenchley]

I put baby rats on the potatoes last spring. If I'd known they were there they'd still have come to an untimely end.