Permaculture Methods To Prevent Pea Bandits (And Other Seed Stealing Garden Pests)

Went out this morning to check on the garden only to discover that something (likely birds, but possibly voles or other small rodents) have been digging up the peas I have that are just starting to germinate. I'm trying a combination of techniques with urine and sticks to deter the would-be thieves. I need zero budget natural solutions to my pest problem. I'm including a video of what I'm trying so far, but I'd love to hear if you have any other solutions that I might be able to employ.

I'll be interested to see whether or not those sticks work. I get mice digging up my peas a lot in the spring. For snap peas, of which I plant just enough for daily fresh eating, I've got some scraps of wire mesh I weigh down with rocks. For my dry peas that I plant in larger beds and random places I hope they might take, I rely on heavily over seeding. As food sources become more abundant, the mice stop digging stuff up so much, too.

Jan White wrote:I'll be interested to see whether or not those sticks work. I get mice digging up my peas a lot in the spring. For snap peas, of which I plant just enough for daily fresh eating, I've got some scraps of wire mesh I weigh down with rocks. For my dry peas that I plant in larger beds and random places I hope they might take, I rely on heavily over seeding. As food sources become more abundant, the mice stop digging stuff up so much, too.

Yeah. I saw where Jim Kovaleski was planting a whole pound of peas in a... maybe a 50 ft. row? But I don't know if it was even that long. Planning to seed a lot heavier next year. I'm only starting with... I think 2oz. of seed this year? And I'm holding back half in case of a crop failure for one reason or another. This year I've gotta be very protective of the little bit of seed I have and hope I've get a good batch of seed for next year.

A couple years ago I had the same problem with corn.  I bought a big container of cyan pepper at the dollar store. I sprinkled it all over the soil. I also got that shiny foil strips you use to decorate a present and tied it to bamboo and stuck it all over my garden.  I don't know what one worked, but one or both did the trick, I had no more problems that year. Good luck

I've definitely heard about people using cayenne. My strategy appears to be working, though. The peas are just starting to work their way up and through the sticks, so nothing much to report on yet.

I mulch with broken sticks or pine bows. Not deep, but just enough to discourage the birdies and the rodents. I want birds, as they are the only thing that eats the SLUGZOMBIES...also...make sure you are popping your peas in at least 1" deep. Any less, and they'll pop themselves out and signal to the birds that there's a nice snack here! But broken sticks work really well and also create a little micro climate/moisture trap