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A fun summer project for kids (of all ages!) is to try growing your own peanuts. Your first job is to track down some viable seeds. Some seed suppliers are now branching out and offering peanuts, but otherwise you’ll need to check out the grocery store or even the pet supply store – you’re looking for monkey nuts, pairs of peanuts still in their hard shell. Peanuts that have already been shelled dry out quickly and won’t sprout when planted.
Peanuts are frost tender plants, which means you’ll either have to grow them indoors or plant them outside once the risk of frost has passed in your area. You can grow them in containers, but you’ll need a large one – the reason that peanuts are an interesting gardening project is their method or reproduction. After the plants flower the flower stems bend over and ‘plant’ the new peanuts in the soil, which is why the peanut is also known as the ground nut.
To sow your peanuts, first crack or remove the hard outer shell so that water can get to the nuts inside. Try planting your peanuts at a range of different depths, to see which one works best – unless you’re growing a peanut field then you’re likely to have plenty of nuts to experiment with as they’re usually sold in big bags.
The young plants are vulnerable to slug and snail damage, so keep them safe until they’re big enough to take care of themselves. Treat your peanuts like beans and you should find that they will flower, plant themselves and leave you with buried treasure to dig up at the end of the season.
When you’ve unearthed your bounty, you can either save the nuts to sow next year, feed them to the birds or try roasting them and making your own snacks!
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Author Bio Box: Emma Cooper
Emma Cooper is the author of Growing Vegetables is Fun. She also has a weekly gardening podcast, The Alternative Kitchen Garden, all about growing your own food in an environmentally friendly way. Check out her website for her gardening blog and more articles.
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