How To Collect And Store Peanuts?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Everyone who grows peanuts is well aware that their crops are harvested one of the very last - in most cases, they are dug out of the beds just before the start of the October frost. However, it is important not only to harvest this crop correctly and on time, but also to properly preserve it, so that healthy nuts delight with their excellent taste throughout the year

Gross mistake

Some inexperienced summer residents begin to try to dig up peanuts closer to the end of summer, as soon as the leaves on the peanut bushes begin to slowly turn yellow. Of course, a bitter disappointment awaits them: carefully removing one bush after another from the soil, they find not full-fledged nuts, but only tiny rudiments of immature pods, and, feeling sad, immediately rush to get rid of them. And it’s in vain - the fact is that the peanuts are not harvested so early! The intensive growth of peanut ovaries at the end of summer is just beginning, and it usually ends closer to October, when all the nuts are ripe and absorb the maximum of nutrients. In order to avoid a gross and ridiculous mistake, it is important to remember once and for all - there is no point in digging peanuts before October!

What to do at the time of ripening of nuts and how to understand that it is time to dig them up?

Starting from August and until October, when the active ripening of peanuts is in full swing, abundant watering and hilling should be canceled, and all kinds of top dressing should be stopped under the bushes. But nuts will only be glad to infrequent and moderate irrigation.

Before you start digging out the nuts, it is important to make sure that the stems on the peanut bushes turn dark brown, the leaves become completely dry, and night temperatures begin to drop to zero degrees.

How to dig up peanuts?

It is best to dig up peanuts in sunny weather. First, the bushes are slightly undermined with a shovel, and then, holding them, they are carefully pulled out of the soil. Having shaken off the ground from the bushes, they are laid near the hole, after which they perform similar manipulations with all the other bushes. And all the legume pods remaining in the soil are collected in a bucket. As for the dug bushes, they are usually left to lie down for several hours to dry thoroughly.

Preparing peanuts for storage

All peanut bushes extracted from the soil are tied into small sheaves, after which they are hung with their roots down for a couple of weeks, either under a canopy, or in thoroughly ventilated rooms. The most important thing is to make sure that the air temperature does not drop below zero. During the two weeks that the peanuts are in limbo, they will finally ripen, and also gain the missing weight. Only then can the beans be torn off the bushes, placed in small nets and rinsed thoroughly.

How to dry nuts?

Drying peanuts is one of the most important stages in preparing them for subsequent storage. If you ignore this step, the pods will begin to grow moldy, as a result of which the entire crop will be hopelessly spoiled. You can dry nuts both in the oven and near heat sources or in an electric dryer (if available).

To dry peanuts in the oven, they are placed on a baking sheet with a layer of about five centimeters and sent to the oven, the temperature in which does not exceed sixty degrees. During the drying process, the nuts need to be stirred from time to time. As a rule, the process of complete drying of peanuts takes two days (every day it takes several hours for this important event) - this will allow not to overdry the fruits too sharply and let them "reach" the required state in adequate conditions.

If the peanuts are planned to be dried near heat sources, then they are laid out in a layer of no more than fifteen centimeters in a sufficiently capacious baking sheet or basin and placed near the firebox or battery. In this way, peanuts are dried for at least about two weeks, remembering to stir it periodically.

In the case of an electric dryer, the peanut pods are laid out on the grate in a layer of ten centimeters maximum and the temperature is set in the device to sixty degrees. In an electric dryer, just like in an oven, peanuts are dried for a couple of days. After this time, it will not hurt to check the pods: if they break without much effort with a characteristic crunch, this indicates that the nuts are dry. Another option is to jerk around with the pods a little: if the dull sound of nuts is clearly heard inside, it means that they are really dry.

Storage

You can store peanuts both in pods, poured into strong canvas bags, and in the form of grains. In the latter case, not only bags can be used for storage, but also dry ceramic or glass containers with durable lids. But it is better to refuse storing peanuts in plastic bags - the nuts may start to taste bitter. As you can see, everything is not so difficult as it might seem at first glance! Harvest a crop of peanuts and save it for everyone!