Growing Peanuts (Groundnuts)

We eat a lot of peanuts, roasted, boiled, blended into paste for curries, sprinkled on stir fries and salads for crunch and much more. My favorite way to eat peanuts by far is the boiled kind. Occasionally we get fresh peanuts at the local Indian grocery store but if you miss the short window when they are available you are out of luck. While the roasted peanuts are pretty affordable the fresh kind is pretty pricey.

Young Plants

So this summer I decided to grow them myself. Not much around 15-20 plants just to see how they grow and if the soil conditions we have around here are suitable for their growth. What do you know? They did pretty well.

Yellow Flowers

Boiled peanuts are not popular in the North East but they are popular in the South. Once we leave the DC suburbs that we live and start driving south, boiled peanut stands dot the sides of the roads during the summer. But taking a trip to the south just for boiled peanuts did not work out as often as we wished. So the next best thing grow them yourself.

Mature plants

While plenty of adults know that peanut is a leguminous plant, most of them have never seen a peanut plant with the cluster of peanuts on the roots and hidden in the ground. For the amount of peanuts we eat pretty much all of us should be familiar with where the peanuts comes from don't you think?

Freshly pulled from the soil

Growing them is not a specialized skill but you need loose soil so you are able to harvest the peanuts easily. Shell the seed peanuts and the seeds that are inside, the ones that we eat are the seeds that go in the ground. Plant them about 1-2 inch deep, cover with soil and water regularly.

Harvested peanuts

In a week or so they sprout. In good warm summer weather they thrive and though this summer has been extremely wet and extremely hot so they did well. I am not sure if our yield was good or not since we have never grown peanuts before.

Red Peanuts!

The peanuts I grew were called "Tennessee Red Valencia Peanut" as the name suggests, fully mature peanuts look red and are 3 or sometimes 4 to a pod. They are excellent with a sweet mild taste. They take about 110 days to mature. They produce small yellow flowers around 40-50 days which self pollinate and fall off just when the peanuts are beginning to form.

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Persimmon Tree bears fruit

Do you grow fruit trees? Then you will understand what I am talking about. The pleasure and joy that comes from being able to pick fruit from the tree that you saw grow is nothing short of spectacular like seeing your child becoming accomplished.

So here I am a proud owner of a fruit bearing Persimmon tree.

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Spring Flowers - 2017 Update

Spring means allergies - watery eyes, scratchy throats and runny noses. All not from being sick but from the pollen these beautiful flowers put out. Thank my lucky stars that allergies have not been a problem all these years but this year either the pollen is very bad or my immunity to pollen is slowly reducing.

But admiring these flowers is still allowed :)

Look at the color! Want to take a guess what flowers these are - Flowers of a PawPaw Tree!

Closer Look!

These - Pink Cascade Weeping Peach!

Beautiful aren't they?

How about These - Purple Lobe Locust!

Brightens up the area!

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Apple Blossom

It is Spring! Though a fairly warm and dry one in our parts. Spring means the trees around her are full of blossoms. I did not realize how pretty an apple blossom can be.

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Plum Blossoms!

Will be back soon! Have not disappeared into cyber hollow yet!

Spring is here and the trees and plants are in full bloom! Enjoy some Plum Blossoms. The first in our tree :)

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Tomato Pickle in winter?

Why Not? During the height of summer when the tomatoes could not be all utilized be it using them up or giving them away or selling you can preserver them for use during the winter months. The tomatoes in the stores at this time of the year are tasteless and they just satisfy the need for a tomato in a recipe but nothing else.

Stewed and frozen tomatoes

When you grow tomatoes you realize not all of them look pretty and well formed. There are some that have to be used right away. Collect a bunch of these and like the method followed in this recipe for making pickles stew the tomatoes, cool them completely. Put them in Ziploc bags or plastic boxes and push them to the back of the freezer. While whole tomatoes can be frozen just as they are and used for curries, pasta sauces and chutneys, stewed tomatoes can make a very tasty tomato thokku pickles.

If you are not growing tomatoes but come summer when tomatoes flood the farmers markets and super markets, buy them when they are cheap. Moreover some of the markets sell a day or couple of days old tomatoes at almost throwaway prices. So watch for those as well.

Frozen red chilies

Come winter they come really hand when you are craving for something tomato and tasty. While I have been postponing using the stewed tomatoes, they came handy when I was running out of pickles and getting tired of the store bought pickles and craving for some home made pickles.

I also had frozen hot chili peppers which also came in handy for making of these pickles. Thaw up the stewed tomatoes, minced the red chili peppers with garlic and proceed to making the thokku pickle. These thokku pickles are versatile, they can be used as a spread for sandwiches, as a rice mix and even for cooking fried rice. So it is condiment that is not a luxury but a necessity.

Pickled and ready to use

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Spring Gardening - How and when to start seeds?

This blog post will be timely for those in the Eastern US above the Mason-Dixon Line. One thing before you start seeds is to look up the last frost date in your area. Around here(Maryland, Zone 7) it is usually around Mother's Day or if you want to be safe Memorial Day. It is after this last day of frost that you put your seedlings out. Use this, Last Frost Date Check or the Old Farmer's Almanac to check out the last froze date for your area. If you not interested in buying seedlings from your nearest garden store you could always start seeds indoors.

While it is recommended not to start seeds on the windows sill. It is all you have sometimes. It has mostly worked for me but the plants grow to be spindly and they are not as strong. There are several type of "Grow Lights" that can be purchased which might work best but for most window light is all that is available.

The other items you need for seed starting are small pots and seed starting mix. I usually use the peat pots which are biodegradable. The process is fairly simple.

Get the pots ready

Fill the pots half or three fourths full with soil

Pour water to wet the soil

Drop the seeds

Cover the seeds with more soil

Sprinkle with more water

Prepare all the pots

A backyard greenhouse might work. I am trying these out for the first time. Will have to see how they work.

Depending on the type of seed, they have to be started 4-6 weeks before they are ready to be planted outside.

Summarizing,
The rules are

Check the last frost date for your area.

Start your seeds indoors ready to be transplanted, 4-6 weeks before last frost depending on the type of seed and how many days are required for germination.

Harden the plants by leaving them in their seed starting containers outside for a couple of days before transplanting.

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