Going nuts

Twenty-first century Americans have no concept of the work involved in the food that is on their table.

Peanut butter is a perfect example.

A staple of childhood sandwiches, peanut butter remains a big part of our diet. We all know that peanut butter is ground up peanuts, but have you ever really thought about the process?

Peanuts are easy to grow if you live somewhere with a long growing season, at least 110 frost free days. This year, I started some indoors and planted the rest after the ground had warmed up. I really didn't see much difference between the plants as the season progressed. 

Most people realize that peanuts are not really nuts. They are legumes and peanuts themselves form on the roots underground, kind of like potatoes. They were one of the very few vegetables I grew this year that were not riddled with pests or other problems, needing only some weeding. And to harvest you just pull up the entire plant and let dry.

I have to admit I didn't keep good records here- I planted about a handful of seeds in a bed about 30 square feet. I harvested maybe 8 times that. Or to look at it another way, each peanut produced one plant which had three or four shells on it, each containing two or three nuts.

So, I've planted and grown and harvested the peanuts. Now they'll have to be thoroughly washed and shelled and roasted. Finally, the cooked peanut can be smashed up and, voila, peanut butter.

And will I be awash in the gooey stuff from my vast peanut field? The National Peanut Board estimates that it takes about 540 peanuts to make a twelve ounce jar, or about 45 nuts per ounce. My pitiful pile might yield enough for a sandwich or two. 

We're spoiled by the small effort it takes to pick up a jar of peanut butter in the market. Grow some peanuts of your own and you'll wonder at the work that goes into making this country's thousands of daily pbj's.