P is for

Peanuts!

Along with the peppers, tomatoes and zucchini there was another crop in our garden this summer. Peanuts. It was new to us and mostly experimental. We saw the peanut plants at a local nursery and picked one up thinking "why not?" We planted it and treated it with the same concern that we lavished on the rest of the garden - total apathy.



I weeded on occasion and we watered but that was about it. Above is a picture of what we saw most of the summer. Aside from the pretty little flowers that appeared in early summer the peanut plant was pretty unremarkable. Leafy and compact but nothing to write home about.

Look what was hiding underneath the soil though.



Those are peanuts just after they were pulled from the ground. They're not ready to eat though. They'll hang in a warm dry place for the next 2 weeks and eventually we'll roast them a bit. I can't wait to taste them.


There are only a handful of nuts on this plant. It makes you wonder how many nuts are produced by a commercially grown plant and gives you a new appreciation for peanut butter. I'm thinking that next year we'll have a few peanut plants.