How strange, Stevie - they look like barley, but I can't get the scale.

oh ok, well they are quite small, I was going to say they looked like sugar puffs to me! But I would say each one is about 2/3 the size of a sugar puff or equal to about 1 1/2 rice crispys

I would say they're more bulb-like. Plant them back in a pot and see what comes up. How did they get there ?...squirrels hoarding them for the winter ?

How about wheat which is beginning to sprout from bird feeders which have been stored by a field mouse?

I thought bird seed too,Stevie..looks like mine when scattered on the ground by them..and the devil to dig out !..

Are they peanuts (from a bird feeder) maybe?

It is barley. Originally from a mixed bird seed in a feeder and stored between the pots by a mouse.

Thanks folks, got given a few pots so it must have happened before I got them, interesting

It's Wheat not barley, barley is the size but is has a sharper point at both ends, wheat is more smother on the ends with the line from top to bottom.
was a mice food store

I feel sorry for the poor mouse now, came back one day and said 'Hey were did my larder go' : (

Poor little mousie. I was going to say oats, but maybe they are more pointed.

Agree with jimmy and jiffy - they are wheat sprouts.

update - have seen some of these on the veg patch, so my neighbour has fed some to her chickens, so it could have happened here. Still a chance for the mouse to have a snack : )

Leave for the mouse or gather and add to a stew!!

We grow little wheat up here, it is all barley. Expensive stuff for the maltings but lots of cheap animal feed and it is this that I normally see.

Home made sugar puffs - mix with honey and pop in microwave?!