How to Plant and Harvest Peanuts

If you're looking for a hardy crop for your garden that is disease and pest-resistant and requires little care, try planting peanuts this year. A fun addition to any plot, peanuts are a delicious source of vitamins A, B and E.

Preparing: Peanuts require a long growing season consisting of four months of warm weather. Here in zone six of southern Indiana, you can barely squeeze them in if you plant right after the danger of frost is passed in mid May. If you live in a cool climate, start them off under glass or inside in peat pots to give them a head start. They prefer an acidic loam (a light, sandy soil), so incorporate plenty of sand and compost into your garden before planting.

Planting: Peanuts can be planted in the shell, or you can shell them and plant the nuts. Be sure to buy raw peanuts, meaning they are unroasted and unsalted. Sow shells every eight inches or the nuts every four inches, and plant the rows 30 inches apart.

Care While Growing: Peanuts are unique in the way they form in that the blooms, after being fertilized, bury themselves in the ground. This is where the peanuts actually develop. Since they will only grow underground, make sure to keep the soil loose around the plants so the blooms can easily bury themselves. Be careful, then, when you weed around the plants that you don't pull up the blooms that are already below the soil. The plants require quite a bit of water to thrive (usually around 30 inches of rain during the season), so if the weather is dry, you'll need to water your peanuts on a regular basis.

Harvesting and Storing: In a warm climate, pull the vines when the leaves go yellow and hang them in a dry airy place. Here in Indiana, you can leave them in the ground until after the first frost. The nuts will continue to ripen underground even after the leaves have frosted away.

Enjoying: Before eating your peanuts, roast them in their shells for 20 minutes in a 300 degree oven and leave them to cool. This step is crucial since, if eaten unroasted, they will inevitably cause an upset stomach. After roasting, there are numerous ways to enjoy your peanuts. Eat them plain or salted, grind them with oil and sugar (or without sugar) to make peanut butter, dip them in chocolate, or chop them for use in desserts.