Last spring, I started some Virginia peanuts inside, then planted them in the greenhouse in hopes of getting enough peanuts to make my own jar of peanut butter. I know nothing about raising peanuts and wasn't even sure they would grow in Minnesota, but the plants have grown well in the high tunnel. You are supposed to dig the peanuts when the plant dies pack. My plants look like this now--a few leaves are brown on the tips, but they are probably still growing a bit too strongly yet. I was curious and impatient, so I dug underneath one nevertheless.
What do you know!?
Little tendrils/roots grow down from along the branches and dig into the ground and grow a peanut at the end!
There were also quite a few tiny peanuts starting, so I harvested a handful of the larger peanuts, then carefully replanted the plant. I will give them another couple weeks. The weather is going to turn cold now and days are getting short, so they may not grow any bigger. But based on the number of large peanuts growing on this one stem, I should definitely get enough to make a jar of peanut butter!
1 comment:
Well that's just cool. I've always wondered in a sort of idle curiosity way exactly how peanuts grow.
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