Peanut growing was introduced to me when an elderly neighbor supplied me with some “seed peanuts,” which he had bought at a seed company and reproduced, spending fifty years perfecting them. Each year he had set aside the biggest peanut pods for the next year’s seeds.
Now, half a century later, the plants seem to have adopted the short growing season of Zone 7.
I carefully shelled the 100 peanuts he had given me and planted them in the makeshift greenhouse on the south porch around three weeks before last frost.
But, I was in for a surprise! One week before the last frost, only twenty-five plants were peeping out from their moist beds in the potting soil.
What a disappointment!
Scratching my head in bewilderment, I searched for an answer and, coincidentally, found an article in the Lancaster Farming on peanuts. It answered my question by stating that to properly germinate, peanut seeds need at least 65°F (18°C) soil temperature.
Give up?
No! Not for a long time! Either I buy a heat mat, or I find a warmer room.
Immediately after the last frost, I roto-tilled the garden where I intended to plant them, dug a trench, and laid in the seedlings approximately 12 inches (30 cm) apart.
I brushed soil around the roots, making the tops of the plants level with the rest of the garden. The reason for this is mentioned later.
Giving them the essential watering and weeding, I waited till the plants had blossomed about a week or two, then…can you guess?! I buried them, leaving only the tops of the plants sticking out.
Now comes the reason for the trench. It is to make it easier to cover the peanuts just level in the trench, leaving only the tops sticking out.
After that, the only attention they needed was to maintain the soil level on top of the plants, keeping it as high as the first time I buried them, letting the new shoots grow that the plant sent out.
After the frost killed them, I discovered how important watering was when I tried to harvest them. A few of the plants at the end of the row did not get watered. These plants didn’t produce well, for obvious reasons. Also, harvesting was as hard as the soil around the plants.
To harvest the watered plants was easy because the soil was soft. As I gently pulled up each branch, peanuts popped out of the soil. After all the branches were out, I took them all in one hand and pulled up the roots. This is where most of the peanuts were.
After harvesting I put them—peanuts, plants, and all—on the porch where the sun and wind could dry them.
A month later, I picked the peanuts off the plants. The biggest shells containing five peanuts each were kept for next year’s seeds. The rest of the peanuts I roasted at 300°F (149°C) for 1 hour. I discovered that roasting time varies according to dryness.
Last off all comes the best part…enjoying cheap peanuts.