gardening

Roasting Peanuts

gardening

I let the peanuts (I harvested from the garden) dry for a couple of weeks. Now it was time to roast them. I set the oven to 300 degrees F and got started.

First I got out a colander and rinsed the peanuts. To get all the dirt off, I scrubbed them with a vegetable brush. Then I set them on a towel to absorb the water while I got out a baking sheet. I placed them on the baking sheet and popped them into the preheated oven. I set the timer for 20 minutes and watched them like a hawk. I was not about to ruin my first and only batch of peanuts.

Rinsing Peanut

My directions said to roast the peanuts for 20 to 25 minutes, but to check one to see if they were done. After 20 minutes, I popped one in my mouth. Chewy, not crisp. Back in they went for another 10 minutes. I tried another and popped them back in the oven. I think the roasting time was closer to 35 to 40 minutes.

Once out of the oven, I let them cool and served them with dinner. Everyone enjoyed the peanuts. To me, they tasted extra fresh. I really enjoyed them. I just wish there were more of them. This planting season, I plan on planting a lot more peanut plants. Watch out Planters!

Fresh Roasted Peanuts
Roasted Peanuts in the Shell

As Always, Happy Gardening!

P.S. — Check out my earlier peanut posts to see the entire process.

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Our First Peanut Crop

gardening

If you’ve been keeping up on my gardening posts, you may remember that we planted peanut plants this year. I read that the peanut plants should be harvested when the plants turned yellow. Ours never really turned yellow. What degree of yellow were they talking about? I started to think that I’d better check out the peanuts. This was taking way too long.

I dug around and found a peanut under ground. A real home grown peanut! Oh boy! I was over the moon with excitement.

Peanuts out of shell. Success!

My bubble was burst a little when I actually dug up the plants. Hoping for loads of peanuts attached, I was surprised to find very few. Some had burst a bit and were sprouting. Oh no, I think I waited a bit to long.

I did manage to harvest some peanuts, just not as many as I had hoped for. I will not find out if the peanuts are any good for a while though, it seems. First, I have to dry the peanuts for a couple of weeks and then I have to roast them. A lot of waiting for such a small crop. This, perhaps, is why Planters is king of their domain.

It was fun to grow the peanuts. I think if I try this again next year, I will check on the peanuts sooner. My version of yellow leaves is not the correct version apparently. Don’t worry Planters, you haven’t lost my business, not yet anyway.

If anyone wants to share their peanut growing wisdom, please do so in the comments below.

As always, Happy Gardening!

Finally Getting the Hang of Gardening (After All These Years!)

gardening

This is the first year I can actually say that my garden was under control. Weeding, check. Watering, check. Harvesting, check. Uprooting, check.

Normally, I have to admit, the garden controls us. More weeds than wanted. Zucchini too large for a giant to eat. Plants past their prime still in residence. But this year things have changed. The garden looks great! So what was the big secret to a well kept, beautiful garden? I got my lazy self into a daily gardening rountine, that’s what.

Instead of checking on the garden when the thought came to mind, I made it a daily task. In this way, I could tackle a few weeds daily, in mere seconds, instead of a load of weeds that would take forever. I knew how my produce was coming along and when to expect being able to pick them. Instead of letting my plants, that were past prime, hang around rent free, I evicted them. All of this daily upkeep was far less work than checking on things less frequently. It also led to far less waste in the garden.

So, gardening really takes commitment and dedication. Sure, anyone can plant a garden, but the upkeep is the secret to the garden and the gardeners success.

As always, Happy Gardening!

Now That’s a Spud!

gardening

I had not checked the garden in a few days. It had been so hot and I just wanted to keep out of the sun. However, yesterday, I braved the heat and made my way to the garden.

First, I picked another cucumber. That one got made into fried cucumbers per Nancy’s suggestion. Thanks again Nancy! They were great. Next, I picked more tomatoes than I care to count. It was while I was picking the tomatoes that I saw it. A potato just grazing the surface. What! I went running in to tell the boys.

After dropping off my tomatoes, I went back out and dug-up my first ever, home grown potatoes. They looked wonderful and I could not wait to cook them last night. After the long wait of growing these spuds, I must say, they were delicious. Freshest potatoes I have ever had, as they were picked and eaten the same day.

The good news is, there are still more in the garden. Now, I am having visions of moving to Idaho to become a genuine potato farmer.

As always, Happy Gardening!

The Potato Plants Have Flowers

gardening

A quick update on our potato plants. Today, as I was trimming away some of the tomato vines in the garden (that were overtaking things), I discovered flowers on the potato plants. A very good sign I should think.

The flowers were a pale shade of purple with yellow centers. Who knew potato plants could be so lovely? I am getting more excited every day as I tend to the plants. They are growing quite tall now and I am crossing my fingers that the potatoes underground are maturing as well.

Who knows, maybe if this potatoe thing works out, I’ll start a potato farm in Idaho.

As always, Happy Gardening!

Peanuts and Potatoes

gardening

This year we are trying to grow peanuts and potatoes in the garden, both of which are new to our garden. Having never grown these before, we can only hope for the best. Both seem to be thriving as of present.

I have posted about our peanut plants before. Compared to my earlier posts, the difference is amazing. The plants are growing and look very healthy and happy. I am just crossing my fingers that the peanuts are doing their thing under the soil as that is where they grow and I can not see what they are up to.

Peanut Plants

Potatoes are something I love to eat. I am hoping to be able to get a home grown baked potatoe out of this crop. Initially, I left some store bought potatoes on the counter to sprout. These were then planted in the garden. One important thing I forgot to do was tell the other gardener in the family, my husband, that the potatoes had been planted. I should have put up a marker, but alas that would have been too simple. So, thinking weeds were growing in the garden, my husband tried to pull a couple and then realized what I had done and put them back. They must be hardy little guys because this uprooting did not seem to faze them at all. The plants look wonderful and are green with life. As with the peanut plants, the potatoes grow under ground so I am again crossing my fingers that all is well.

Potatoe Plants

I will be sure to post what happens with the crops when they are time to harvest. Stayed tuned.

As always, Happy Gardening!

You Get What You Get

gardening

The vegetables are starting to produce in the garden. I just came in from picking our first ‘big’ harvest. As the saying goes, ‘You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit’.

We have one beautiful zucchini with more coming, two banana peppers, and four green beans. The one that I really find amusing is the four green beans. Four green beans are hardly enough for one person let alone a family of four At least everyone will get one tonight. HA! HA! I am laughing as I write this. Paired with the zucchini it will be fine, really.

The tomatoe plants look amazing and are taller than me. The starts of little green tomatoes can just be seen. Soon we will be up to our eyeballs in tomatoes. The peanut plants are growing, a good sign I’m sure. Although, since they grow under ground, I have no way to know. We also have lettuce coming in slowly. Hopefully the tomatoes and lettuce will coordinate their arrival so I can toss a salad.

As always, Happy Gardening!

2021 Baby Bluebirds Have Arrived

gardening

As I have posted previously, we have a bluebird house in the yard that my husband made for me. It is to encourage bluebirds to nest. The bluebirds love the house and we have had the pleasure of enjoying baby bluebirds each spring. This year is no exception.

On the first of June, a beak was spotted by my husband. I, however, did not see anything until the next day. Upon opening the curtains, I saw the head of a baby bluebird peaking out of the birdhouse hole. Luckily, I left my camera near the window for just this purpose. I started snapping the 2021 baby photos.

This is perhaps my favorite thing about the garden. Seeing nature at its best. I plan on enjoying these cuties until they are old enough to leave the nest.

As always, Enjoy Nature!

Peanut Plants Update

gardening

Back in early April, my husband and I planted peanut plants in our garden. ( See post: https://wordpress.com/post/anotherdaywithjulie.home.blog/4783 ) It is now late May and I am happy to say that the plants are growing and have yellow buds.

The buds are an exciting thing to see as flowers are needed in order for the plants to make the peanuts. I am going to keep a close eye on the plants, hoping to see the flowers poke into the ground where they will, hopefully, produce peanuts.

Stay tuned for further updates from me on the progress of our peanut plants. For now, them seem to be healthy and heading in the right direction. As always, Happy Gardening!

Storing Potatoes in Warm Climates

gardening

It is said that one should not store potatoes in the refrigerator. Oh no! Hadn’t heard that before. Why on earth not?

According to GoodHousekeeping.com:

“According to the New Scientist, we shouldn’t be storing raw potatoes in the fridge because it can lead to the formation of acrylamide during cooking.

At low temperatures, an enzyme breaks down the sugar sucrose into glucose and fructose, which can form acrylamide during cooking.

Acrylamide has hit the headlines thanks to the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), which has launched a warning of the possible cancer risk associated with this chemical.”

Well, after reading such articles as that, I looked into the best ways to store potatoes. The best place to store potatoes is in a cool, dry place such as a cellar or basement. This, however, poses a problem for me. I live in California. This is not the midwest. No one has cellars or basements in California. Now what?

I started to leave the spuds out on the counter. Of course this is a big no-no. Potatoes do not like light and we have plenty of that in California. If left on the counter, they will start to sprout and turn slightly green inside.

So, I read where putting the spuds in a basket or well ventillated bag in a pantry would do. Ok, so I had found room in the pantry, put them in a brown bag, poked holes in it for ventillation, and closed the top. Again, this did not work. The spuds did not last long. I think I suffocated them…

The next method, I am proud to say, is working like a charm and so simple to do. I take a small brown paper lunch bag and roll down the sides, then I gently place the potatoes inside the bag. Keeping the bag open at top, I then place it inside my pantry. Voila! The potatoes seem to be happy enough and have plenty of airflow and are kept in the dark as to what is going on in the light of day. They have not sprouted and seem to be doing well. Of course, it is only spring here in California and the really hot days of summer are not upon us yet. We shall see how they like the pantry in a few months time but for now all is well.

Another thought I had….the grocery stores seem to like to store the single potatoes in the refrigerated shelves that then spray water on them every so many minutes. This is probably (in my oppinion) a bad thing. Only the 3 or 5 pound bags are stored dry and out of refrigeration. Although a few stores do carry singles stored witout refrigeration, most do not. So it is probably important to purchase potatoes that are stored properly before getting to one’s house.

As always, Happy Harvesting!