I can't believe its almost the end of October! That first frost is probably lingering around the corner in a couple of weeks. It is definitely cooler and downright chilly in the morning. I finally said goodbye to the tomatoes, but still haven't pulled the peppers or eggplants. This week's harvest is all about the peanuts. I finally finished digging up both 4'x6' beds of peanuts. The front bed did much better than the back bed, although I still don't know for sure until they dry and I crack into the shells to find the peanuts.
Here's the freshly dug peanuts from the front bed:
The front bed does get more sun and I think more importantly has better drainage. It is in one of the highest parts of my terraced garden, so several feet of fill dirt separate the peanuts from the clay soil below. The back bed is almost level with the soil and does not drain well. According to what I've read about peanuts, they prefer sandy, well-drained soil. However, the first time I ever grew peanuts it was in dense clay soil and they still produced.
Here's the harvest from the back bed- lots of peanut plant, but not as many peanuts:
Now just two weeks of drying and then the roasting and eating will commence! Here are the dried peanuts from the first rows I harvested a couple of weeks ago:
I will weigh all the peanuts after drying and picking. Here's hoping there are plenty of peanuts hiding in those shells!
They look fantastic! I would love to know more - How many plants per bed did you plant? How tall do the plants get and this may sound a bit silly but what do you plant? Peanuts?
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool, I saw some black peanuts is a seed catalog a few months ago, now I wish I had made a space for them ...somewhere!
ReplyDeleteLiz- I think the spacing was six inches, so you can plant plenty in a 4'x6' bed. They get about a foot tall, but they will try to escape the bed. I tried to corral them with stakes and twine, but they took over the paths around the bed (~1 ft). And yep, you plant individual peanuts. I haven't tried to save peanuts to plant. However, the first time you plant them in a location you need to have rhizobium inoculant, which comes coating the seeds I buy from a local Farmer's Exchange.
ReplyDeletethe writinghouse- I've never seen black peanuts, but just looked them up. Very cool! Might have to try them out next year. Good luck finding space!
Wow! That is a lot of peanuts. I like peanuts, and they are so good in Asian dishes and desserts.
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