Protection for Autumn sown peas and beans

[Herbsandveg]

I received an email from Marshall's yesterday regarding a current offer they have on Autumn sown peas and beans. The two varieties that compromise the offer are listed below, and after you've all had a look at them I have a few little queries on which I could with some advice:

Duo Pack consists of 1 full-size packet each of:

Aquadulce Claudia Seeds - The Ultimate Autumn Sowing Broad Bean!
Sow in autumn, preferably in October or November, and this broad bean will produce hardy young plants, strong enough to stand the winter frosts ready to grow away quickly as soon as warmer spring days arrive.

Douce de Provence Seeds - the Perfect Autumn Sowing Extra Early Pea!
This particular variety is a round-seeded pea (as opposed to its wrinkled-seeded cousins) which means you can sow it from late September to early November.

This will ensure the young plants establish themselves before the winter sets in. Once spring arrives they'll continue to develop, well ahead of your spring sown peas.

The questions I could do with some help with on this are as follows:

1. Given that it might be a week on Saturday (26th October) when I actually get these on the ground, how established are they likely to become this year?

2. Wouldn't I almost certainly need some fleece over them to protect them from frost and various predators?

3. Even if it wasn't frozen and the fleece kept the birds off, wouldn't there still be problems with any mice who spotted them?

4. Is it really such a good idea to sow them now?

6. Given that I'm hoping to get most of my seeds for next season from Real Seeds Company, just how good do other Grapes think these varieties might be?

As ever with my questions, any advice extended would be very gratefully received...

[rustylady]

Both varieties mentioned are good. The only problems with mice will be with them nicking the seeds before they germinate. Once they have germinated they should be fine.

Both varieties will withstand normal UK winter weather, so should be no need to fleece.

[WilliamD]

Sowing Aquadulce in late October is fine; indeed your timing is spot on. The advantage of sowing them now is that they'll have a big head start come the early spring and will crop a good month or two before any broad beans you'll sow in spring. Might be worth some pest protection early on after they sprout, but they should comfortably survive the cold.

If I'm not mistaken, Aquadulce is the variety that Real Seeds sell for autumn planting.

[Herbsandveg]

Thank you to all who replied to me on this, and thank you William D, who really encouraged me with the thought that the variety in question is the one sold by Real Seeds. I think I'll have a pop now still growing these...

[Two_Sheds]

I used to ONLY grow autumn broadies: they're tougher than spring ones and don't suffer blackfly as badly (if at all)

Now I sow the majority in autumn, and fill any gaps in the spring

[Scarlet]

Both varieties mentioned are good. The only problems with mice will be with them nicking the seeds before they germinate. Once they have germinated they should be fine.

That's my problem! The only way I can get a crop is to start them indoors. Same with peas...