Every few years I attempt to grow peas in containers. My biggest challenge is rodents. Rabbits adore peas, but it’s the squirrels, chipmunks and voles that drive me crazy. They like nothing better then excavating the soil in my barrels. They can barely wait until I’m done sowing the seeds. When I’m safely out of sight, they sneak into the barrels and make a mess. Then I have to wait anxiously for days to find out whether any of my seeds survived the carnage.
After much trial and error, I think I’ve finally come up with a solution. I surrounded the barrels with chicken wire which slowed down the squirrels, but the chipmunks and voles climbed right through it. I retaliated by wrapping the chicken wire with a layer of vinyl deer fencing. That stopped the voles and chipmunks, but occasionally squirrels would still climb the tangled mess because they just couldn’t resist that fresh soil. For my grand finale, I cut out squares of chicken wire to fit over the top and secured them with clothespins (so I can easily reach in to weed when necessary). It’s not a pretty sight, but so far not a speck of soil has been displaced.
The weather this spring has been perfect for peas. The snow melted quickly in March and temperatures jumped into the 60s. I was a little worried we’d keep climbing and skip spring altogether, but the temperatures leveled off and we’re hovering right around average (high 62 low 39). I sowed my seeds on April 11th and they are already about 4 or 5 inches tall.
I’m trying a new cultivar from Burpee this year called ‘RSVPea’. The plants have two flushes of flowering and they only grow 40 inches tall. That’s the perfect size for my barrels. If I can continue to keep the beasts at bay, I may just enjoy some fresh peas next month.