Early this spring I realized I had a new "family" coming. Momma squirrel ended up having three of the cutest little jet black babies in her nest in one of the trees in my front yard. Of course, once they started coming down to the ground to dig and play in my new garden they weren't half so amusing and cute - but that's another story. Anyway, back to the subject.
The little guys and gals have been busy burying the peanuts that are in the new bird feed mix I've been buying. Apparently, these are raw peanuts 'cause I've found 3 peanut plants sprouting in my gardens (I now know they are peanuts after pulling up the first strange "weed" I found in the garden and finding the peanut it was sprouting from). I'm thinking of leaving them there and seeing what happens. Does anyone know anything about peanuts?
--Ginny
Peanuts anyone?
You need the squirrels to plant them earlier to have a hope of getting a crop. ;)
In Kentucky one member posted planting them May 15th........here's a thread for the squirrels to read:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/394774/
This message was edited Jul 23, 2005 10:59 PM
Thanks for the link! I wonder, if I transplanted them into large pots and moved them indoors when the weather starts to cool off if I could coax some peanuts out of them. Maybe I'll try that.
No idea if that will work but it sure doesn't hurt to try. :)
I saw a picture in a very old Moose Jaw paper of a boy who grew the plant here. It was planted a little late so he didn't get any peanuts...frost came in the beginning October of that year (he had protected the plant til then).
Found this article courtesy of MJPL Infotrac:
"Organic Gardening, Nov 1996 v43 n8 p42(2)
Make room for peanuts: you can grow 'em wherever you live!
(includes sources) Lois Trigg Chaplin.
Abstract: There are many varieties of peanuts and they are all easy to grow. Four varieties that are discussed are Virginia which are jumbo-sized, Spanish, small nuts with red skins, runner types, and valencia which have a full almost sweet favor. Tips are given on growing peanuts.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1996 Rodale Press, Inc.
Peanuts are great fun to grow! The plants first produce pretty yellow blooms above the ground; then their stalks reach down, touch the soil and begin to dig in. Eventually a peanut is produced about an inch or two under the ground where that stalk sought shelter.
There are two different kinds of peanut plants, "bunch" and "runner" types. The bunch types are slightly more compact than the runners, which can send out vine-like shoots that are up to 3 feet long. And there are four types of peanuts
Virginia. These produce jumbo peanuts, generally with two big kernels inside each shell. Those large kernels need a long time (150 days) to mature, and that makes them almost impossible to grow in the North unless you start them indoors in peat pots and then transplant them out to the garden.
You can get Virginia peanuts from either runner or bunch type plants, depending on the specific variety you grow. (VIRGINIA JUMBO tends to be a catch-all name for these big varieties.) NC-7 is a popular commercial variety that gardeners in the South may be able to purchase at local farm supply stores; it matures a little earlier than most others, has a large kernel and stores well.
Nc-9 tolerates black root rot and is therefore popular in parts of Virginia and the Carolinas where this disease is a problem. FLORIGIANT is not resistant to any insects or diseases, but does tolerate adverse conditions--such as dry weather, cool weather and drought; it also grows well in a wide variety of soil types.
Spanish. These red-skinned peanuts are smaller than the Virginia types, generally produce two or three nuts per shell, and all varieties are bunch type plants. Because they are smaller, they don't require as many days (around 120) to mature, making them better suited for northern gardens. "Spanish" is sometimes used as a catch-all term in catalogs. PRONTO is a popular specific variety that matures in about 115 days in the South, while EARLY SPANISH grows as far north as Canada!
Valencias. Many folks believe that these are the very best tasting peanuts of all, thanks to their full, nutty, rich, almost-sweet flavor. Plus they mature the fastest of all types (in just 90 to 105 days), making it possible to grow peanuts in the cooler parts of the continent. The plants are all bunch types and each shell contains two to five kernels.
The classic "New Mexico varieties are VALENCIA and MCRAN. (MCRAN produces slightly larger peanuts.) TENNESSEE RED is a popular older variety, often grown in the East. And GARROY was bred to germinate well in the cooler soil of southern Ontario by Canadian breeders at the University of Guelph (although Robert Roy, research agronomist for Agriculture Canada in Delhi warns that "if it's too cool to grow corn, it's too cool for these peanuts.")
Runner peanuts. If you live in Florida, Georgia or Alabama, you can probably find these popular commercial varieties at a farm supply outlet. As their name indicates, all are runner types, and they generally produce two medium-size kernels per shell. The standard, FLORUNNER, developed at the University of Florida, matures in 135 days and has good yield and flavor. SOUTHERN RUNNER takes a little longer, but is resistant to Southern blight (a mold disease that attacks the kernels) and leaf spot (which defoliates the plants and causes the peanuts to drop off). Unfortunately, it is quite susceptible to nematodes.
GROWIN' THE PEANUTIEST
To get peanuts, you have to plant in warm soil (65[degrees] F minimum at a depth of 4 inches) and the air temperature must be 55[degrees] F or warmer at night. Don't plant if the soil is still cold or your evenings are still chilly!
Handle peanut seed tenderly--the skin around the nut is paper thin. Plant your seeds 1 inch deep, about 3 to 4 inches apart for small, bunch varieties and 6 to 8 inches apart for runner types. Two ounces of seed should plant a 30 foot row.
Peanuts are legumes and so can "fix nitrogen" (take their own plantfeeding nitrogen directly from the air)-if the specific strain of bacteria that causes this wonderful event to occur is present. "So provide that bacteria by inoculating your seed," says Ed Colburn, Ph.D., extension agronomist at Texas A&M University. Peanut inoculant is sold locally in peanut growing areas. Sprinkle the inoculant onto the seeds until they are all coated, taking care not to jostle the seeds too much. (Remember that paper-thin covering! If it splits, the germ is killed.)
Do that, and you probably won't need to feed your peanuts any extra nitrogen. However, you probably Will need to add some calcium--crucial to the development of the kernel-- and some phosphorus. Unless your soil tests very high in calcium, you'll want to add some gypsum; you can use lime instead if your soils is acidic (peanuts like a pH of 6 to 7).
[Expanded Picture] [Expanded Picture] Peanuts absorb that calcium through their hull, so it is crucial it be present in the top 3 inches of soil (in the "pegging area"). Sprinkle your calcium on the surface of the soil beside the plants when they are about 6 inches tall. For Spanish, runner and Valencia peanuts add about 25 pounds of gypsum per 1,000 square feet. Those big Virginia peanuts need twice as much calcium to reach full size.
Resist the gardener's urge to mulch, as this makes "pegging" (the digging in of the flower stalk that eventually forms a peanut below the surface) more difficult. Instead, just pull weeds as they come up. And for good, full kernels, your peanuts will need regular watering--especially those big Virginia types.
HARVESTING YOUR PEANUT PROCEEDS
When you think that your peanuts are nearing maturity (note: The farther north you live, the longer they will take to reach full maturity), crack open a few pods, says John Beasley, Ph.D., extension agronomist for the University of Georgia in Tifton. If the inside of the hull is dark brown or black, your peanuts are mature. Mature pods generally come off the vines very easily as well.
After harvesting, you must cure or dry your peanuts. If the weather is warm and dry, you can simply leave them lying on top of the soil in the garden or hang them over a line or fence. Of course, the birds and other critters will get their fill this way--so if you don't have enough to share, move them into a shed or garage for drying and spread them on a screen or fashion a line to hang them over. When the shells are dry (you'll know by the crack) pull them from the vines and store in a mesh sack. Be sure to discard any moldy peanuts, especially if you find any mold inside the shells. Some peanut molds produce poisonous substances called aflatoxins.
SOURCES
1. DeGeorgia Seed Co. 6011 N St. Omaha, NE 68117 Free catalog
2. Henry Field's Seed & Nursery. 415 N. Burnett Shenandoah, IA 51602 Free catalog
3. Park Seed Co. Cokesbury Rd. Greenwood, SC 29647 Free catalog
4. Redwood City Seed Co. P.O. Box 361 Redwood City, CA 94064 Catalog $1
5. R.H. Shumway, Seedsman P.O. Box 1 Graniteville, SC 29829 Free catalog
Mag.Coll.: 86D3723"
Looks like you can Ginny. Ü
Wow! Thanks for the research help! Myself, I tend to be a more lazy gardener. Try it - if it works, great - if it fails, oh well :-)
You're very welcome. At least it'll give you a couple of hints so that you will be able to get a taste of your own Ontario grown peanuts. :)
I tried planting peanuts this spring but none of them came up :( I think they might have got flooded though, as we had some very heavy rains just after I planted them.
Just for fun, I thought I would revive this old thread. While nothing ever came of those late planted peanut plants from 2005, this year was a different story.
Right around the beginning of June I found 3 peanut seedlings sprouting in various spots in my new raised beds - all of them way too close to large plants that would end up shading them (nicotiana and a new rose bush). Thinking to see what would happen I just left them to their own devices.
Well, when I started my garden clean up in October I dug those 3 peanut plants up, and every single one of them had a nice tidy little crop of peanuts attached :-) After doing a little quick research I washed them up really well, left them in a paper towel lined tin foil plate in my kitchen to dry for two weeks, then roasted them - unshelled - in a 300 degree oven for 25 minutes. Mmmm-mmm were they ever good. The skins were just the perfect shade of pinky-red and most of the nuts were on average the same size as you would expect to get in a commercial package of shelled peanuts.
I sure hope the critters plant me a new crop next spring - I'll have to remember to tell them I need many more than 3 though for a decent harvest :-)
--Ginny
LOL Ginny you had better load up on more planting supplies (for your helpers) than what they can eat, and find, then. Amazing that the squirrels didnt run off with your newly grown peanuts too.
Way to go, Ginny! Did you take pictures of the plant?
:) Donna
Ginny...........Thanks for sharing this with us. I am always looking for ways to get the kids involved and this is a good one. Like Donna I would like to see pictures if you have any I have never seen a peanut plant.
We have a family of squirrels living in a huge old tree in our front yard. They are so fun to watch. Last spring we put up a peanut feeder out for them. They were really clever little things they figured out how to open the lift up lid and just pack their checks full. rather than take one at a time. Well one day when my daughter took out the bag of peanuts to fill the feeder the bag broke open and the whole thing dumped onto the ground. I saw this happening from the deck, the mom and dad came scrambling down the tree to get the peanuts. They would grab as many peanuts as possible but couldn't bear to leave any behind so they gave up packing them in their cheeks and started burying them. It was funny they would grab a peanut walk two paces and dig dig to bury it and grab the next. This went on and on until they had them all burried in the lawn. They didn't sprout in the lawn anywhere but I bet the squirrles took them all over time.
You have given me a good idea and I think we will try to hide some underground next spring for ourselves.:) hopefully where the squirrles won't find them:)
Bea
Unfortunately I never did take any pictures of the peanut plants themselves. I may have a pic somewhere though that I took of another plant that a peanut was in too. I'll take a look and see what I can find. I'm glad you all enjoyed the story :-)
--Ginny
Ginny, that is a neat story! When I was a kid, my Dad had a peanut crop in the sandy dirt in his Mom's timber.(1 1/2 miles from town.) I've planted peanuts a couple of times in my own garden. I love them!
I've been thinking about maybe helping the squirrels at planting time so I get more plants, but I suspect that they would simply help themselves to my bounty before it could sprout :-) Maybe I should try starting them early indoors, and then I can just transplant instead.
I don't know if they can be started early. Peanuts grow up then down again, but I don't remember how quickly.
Yeah, that's what I was wondering about too. I think I remember reading that it is after they flower that they grow down from the blooms. LOL Right now it's a moot point anyway, since I have no "stock" to start with - I ate it all!
ROTFL!!!!