Peanuts! Peanuts! Get Your Peanuts!

It’s peanut time!  Which also means it’s football time — more specifically, time to make the boiled peanuts for consumption during the football game!  In my house, anyway.  But beware:  in order to make boiled peanuts you need salt and lots of it.   Ick.

But peanuts are enjoyed lots of ways!  Roast them, eat them natural.  Make peanut butter.  Though if you try that last one, be prepared to have a good blender.  Haven’t tried it myself.  Mine get boiled.  With salt.

The kids and I harvested peanuts and boy do we have wagon-loads.  Literally.  We dug these out and it’s only a third of our two rows.  Yum!

We grew Valencia which take about 3 – 4 months to grow.  After they blossom, pegs will start to form and dip into the ground, where the peanuts will develop.  Once your leaves begin to yellow, dig up a “test” peanut and check to see if its ready.  Should be firm with a dry papery skin.   Gingerly pull the entire plant from the ground, else you leave a few peanuts behind, and shake the dirt free. 

You’ll need to dry them out for a day or two in the sun, then remove peanuts from the plant and continue drying in a warm dry area.  We set ours out on the screen patio.  Times vary for drying times, but we went with a week or so. 

Aflatoxin is listed as a concern with raw peanuts, mostly when there’s too much moisture.  Most sources I read suggest this risk is reduced by drying and moreso by roasting.  Boiling may eliminate this problem altogether! 

Hey…   Maybe that’s why it started?

Either way, peanuts are a great crop.  They’re easy to grow, easy to harvest and make for a great fall season snack — roasted, boiled or even eaten raw (with caution, of course).