I was told New Zealand Spinach was hard to germinate so I planted every seed I got in trade. They all came up, got a little size on them and were promptly devoured by the local roof mouse. The weather is still warm enough for me to try again.

This mouse has eaten the tomato/eggplant seedlings and I think it's too late for me to plant them again, she devoured my prize varigated Solomons seal that I got in a trade on here and can not replace because no one but me has a rooftop woodland terraniam in sunny California, and ate every last one of my parriane carrots. She keeps pulling up chevil seedlings checking for carrots. That mouse is crazy for carrot, she even bit off one of my tumeric tops because she thought it was a carrot; just left my poor orange turmeric abandoned on top of the soil and she destroyed all my beans.

Of course she polished off the wheat, amaranth and cottonseed first. Picked thru the squash melon seed tray digging out every seed she could. Risk her life for lemon queen sunflower as the birds swooped down, missed her by that much:(

My California buckwheat barely gets to have flowers. She ate both my milkweed plants. Rain lily beheadings have become the norm.

I think she watches me plant things because each time I check the red Japanese okra seedlings they're knocked down so I prop them back up, then i walk away and when I come back they are kicked over again. Whenever I uncover slugs and turn my back they're gone instantly.

Oh, the fat greedy mouse was determined to have those sunflowers. She burned with envy as she watched the birds eating. One night in a fit of jealous rage she rammed into a sunflower as hard as she could and it fell over. Leaving a bevy of delicious seed on the ground. Now every night it's sunflower rodent football. She goes to the edge of the roof and I hear her running as fast as she can, followed by a tackle over and over, finally -timber.

Alas, if you have some new Zealand spinach, Roselle, or red japonese okra please take a look at my trade list.

Otherwise I'll just have to get creative with onions and potatoes, maybe season them with berry leaves.