Against rodentia

We are appreciative of our wildlife and realize that we have invaded their habitat rather than the other way around. We much enjoy all the birds that come to our feeders and watch larger animals come to our watering dish even if some of those are coyotes that have made off with a few of our chickens. I even have a difficult time setting traps for mice and if I do set one, it is a live trap.

One area I consider "ours" is the garden, but the mice don't see it that way. Later on in the season it is not as big a deal to get a plant nibbled, but when the plants are just starting out some don't even make it past seed leaf stage. So this morning I went to some lengths, again, to protect my new plantings. I had started some sugar snap peas in the cold frame and it was time to set them out.

This is the most defensive plan I have employed yet: plastic cones around the plants that are protected by chicken wire cages. Peas growing tall it is not practical to cover them with the hardware cloth cages. There are still 4 plants in the cold frame, as backups.

The fruit trees are past blooming now, and there are many little apricots growing, as well as peaches, apples and pears.