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Last week we talked about how to grow peas.  Ordinarily it’s easy as pie, but what do you do when creatures of the night and/or sky make it their business to snatch up all your delicate sprouts before they have a chance to take hold in the soil?

You build a fortress.

That’s what we did, anyway.  We planted 3 rounds of peas, and each time they were plucked out by rats or birds, we can’t tell which.  So we needed something drastic.  We constructed our fortress out of floating row cover and clothespins, and combined it with indoor seed-starting for the perfect results: rat-proof pea seedlings.

With a pea trellis already in place, as well as drip irrigation along the line of the trellis, we secured 2 pieces of floating row cover to the soil on either side of the trellis with U-Pins.  Each piece of fabric was about 2 1/2 feet tall by 4 1/2 feet wide.

Next we transplanted our seedlings from their indoor haven to their new outdoor home.

Peas coming out…

Peas going in..

Then we watered well to settle the soil.

Nothing sexier than a Haws watering can.

The final step is to connect the ends of the floating row cover at the top (like a tent) and secure with clothes pins.  Wrap the outside edges of fabric around to close the gaps.

We still remove the clothes pins to water and check on our little babies.  So far not one of them has been disturbed.

Do you have a solution for keeping your little ones safe and sound?  Post your suggestions here.