Pick up your Peanuts!

Growing peanuts has been quite the experiment!  The first challenge was keeping the mice out of the greenhouse so the seedlings could start.  Transplanting the seedlings into the garden was easy, and the actual growing part was easy too but slow.  With the first frost this week, it was clear the plants weren't going to grow anymore, so before the weekend rains hit, I rushed out of work early on Friday to harvest them and get them inside to dry (wet peanuts can mold). Below are directions on how to enjoy our experimental crop!

Green PeanutsSince peanuts mature at different rates, many of the peanuts are  must boil, roast, or freeze them within a few days of their harvest. Until cooked or frozen, green raw peanuts must be stored in a well ventilated, dry, cool location. They need to be refrigerated immediately since they tend to rot very soon, within a week (or in best case 10-12 days) even when stored in the best of conditions (well ventilated, dry, cool location). The only way to keep them would be to freeze them. Boil and then freeze them. Do not freeze them without boiling them first. 

Boiling Green Peanuts:
Real boiled peanuts are made with fresh, green nuts, so they're a seasonal treat of autumn. To make this delicacy, wash immature pods very well, and place them in a pot of very salty water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 60 to 90 minutes. Drain, cool and enjoy. Leftovers may be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Curing:  Ripe peanuts have a lot of moisture in them when first harvested, so they have to cure for a week or two somewhere warm and dry. (Ours are in the greenhouse.)

Peanut Storage: Once the nuts are properly cured, peanut storage should occur in mesh bags stored in a cool, well ventilated area until you choose to roast them. Peanuts do have high oil content, and as such, will eventually go rancid. To lengthen the life of your peanuts, store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several months or in the freezer for several years.

Roasting Peanuts:

1. Place raw peanuts, in shell or shelled, one layer deep in a shallow baking pan. Sprinkle salt over.
2. Roast in a 350 degree F oven; 15 to 20 minutes for shelled and 20 to 25 minutes for in shell peanuts.
3. Remove from heat just short of doneness desired, as peanuts continue to cook as they cool.

Our variety of peanut: the Carolina African Peanut

According to Southern Exposure Seed Exchange:  maturity in 130 days. [Brought to the US in the 1600s by West African slaves, this is the original American peanut!] Thought to be extinct since the 1930s, until Dr. David Shields tracked down a small sample in NC State University’s seed archives. From a 2013 planting of 20 seeds, Brian Ward of Clemson’s Coastal Research and Education Center has been building up the population. The peanuts are smaller, denser, and oilier than other peanuts, and sweeter than Virginia peanuts. Historically, they were used for making peanut oil, used in savory dishes, desserts, and beverages, and later for peanut butter. 1-2 seeds/pod (mostly 2 seeds/pod). A runner peanut, vines can spread 3+ ft (great for keeping down weeds), but needs 2-3 weeks longer to mature than other peanuts - if trying to grow these north of SE Virginia, start seedlings inside, then transplant out a month after last spring frost

Bottom-side of a peanut plant

Peanuts curing in the greenhouse