Found a peanut. November 4, 2009
Posted by threegirlpileup in Family Life, Gardening, Playing outside, unschooling.Tags: fall, peanuts
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My in-laws recently harvested a nice crop of peanuts. With some of their extra seeds, I had put in a few plants myself, but they have been entirely neglected. I put them in as more or less an afterthought, in what is honestly the worst bed in the garden. We got a few plants, but they were pretty overrun with weeds, and I didn’t figure they were producing much of anything. But after seeing the big basket of peanuts at Gramma’s today, it seemed worth at least taking a look to see if there was anything there.
And there was!
After I found the first one, I went inside and got the girls so that they could see. We managed to dig up a handful of peanuts. It’s fun–kind of like digging potatoes, it’s a treasure hunt. For more on peanuts and how they grow, check out this link .
The best part was that after harvesting our little legumes, they quickly started playing a game that involved living in Australia. Maggie was a wild kangaroo that was attacking the garden, and Anna was scaring her off by tossing radish greens in her hair. Meanwhile, I cleared out a bed in anticipation of planting garlic and shallots to the happy music of their play. All in the midst of a gorgeous fall day. It doesn’t get much better than this.
For some reason, even knowing that’s how they grow, it still seems so funny to see a peanut under the ground!
I think that’s one of my favorite things about gardening, especially with the kids–it’s one thing to know how something grows, and it’s another things to actually dig it out of the ground with your own hands. Another crazy favorite around here is brussels sprouts–I still can’t believe that’s how they grow!