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Organic Northern Hardy Valencia Peanut HEIRLOOM Yes you heard it right, a northern hardy peanut!
Originally from the Georgia (where they're called Goober Peas), this fantastic variety has been grown and selected for over a decade in Northern Michigan before we started selecting it in the Finger Lakes of New York.
Peanuts grow as tall and wide as bush beans, making them suitable for small gardens, even large containers. Sow them when you sow your bush beans, after the last frost; early June is average for us. Well-drained, fertile soil with the additional warmth of a layer of row cover yields the most abundant peanuts. Pay close attention to their gorgeous canary yellow flowers: blossoming within a few inches of the ground, each pollinated flower will grow a purple stem (called a peduncle or peg) down into the soil where it forms each peanut beneath the earth. At the end of the season, your peanut stems will have 20+ purple peduncles connecting your peanuts to each plant! Peanuts continue maturing all season long so we harvest at first frost by forking around each plant gently and lifting the peanuts out of the soil still attached to the plant.
The pods with 4 and 5 peanuts we'll dry & cure for our seed stock; all the other peanuts we boil or roast fresh and enjoy right away. Our favorite is to boil them in salty beer!
Check out our fun & informative videos more more harvest and curing details.
Regional adaptation is important for every seed to thrive, but none perhaps so much as peanuts. We are truly proud of and grateful to share these exceptionally well adapted seeds for you to enjoy!
You'll notice your packet will be quite large and bulky: we send your peanuts in their shell to preserve each seed's freshness. Remove them from the shell just before you plant them, taking care to not knick the protective black skin.
110 days to maturity
Arachis hypogaea
Peanuts have purple peduncles!
Organic Northern Hardy Valencia Peanut
Direct Seed Only: After last frost, sow 1” deep every 5-6” in fertile soil & do not thin. Floating row cover all season increases warmth & thus production. Weeded well so purple peduncles (pegs) grow from stem to ground & form peanuts without competition. After first fall frost, lift entire plant with fork & eat immediately or dry with fans 2 weeks to cure.
Sowing Date: After final frost
Seed Depth: 1 inch
Days to Germination: 5-10
Days to Maturity: 110
Plant spacing after thinning: 5-6 inches
Height: 2 feet
Growing tips:
Remove the peanut seed from the shell and try to not damage the outer coating of the seed. Sow 1-2 in. deep, 8 in. apart, in rows 20 in. Plant a week after last frost once soil has warmed up. Peanuts transplant well, and can be started indoors 3-4 weeks before transplanting out. Keep the plants well weeded and watered during early stages of growth. Once the plant starts to flower it will send pegs into the ground and start to develop peanuts at the ends of these pegs. You will damage the pegs if you have to weed close to the plant at this point so make sure you weed early and often.
Harvest:
Experiment with harvesting starting about one month before the first frost. These early harvests are uncured and have soft shells, but they make delicious boiled peanuts and do not require as much cooking time as cured peanuts harvested later in the season. For curing and storing peanuts wait until after the first light frost to harvest. Dig the plant with a potato fork and remove the peanuts from the pegs. It is best to cure them indoors in a rodent proof space with a fan for several weeks before storing.
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Fun 
A fun experiment!