The cool night air and freshly dug peanuts are what make fall. I love fall with the smell of harvest season. This year’s peanut season is a little special to me. I have closely watched the peanut crop from Beech Fork Farms. I started in May with the planting. Now it is harvest time.
I learned that peanuts have flowers and are self-pollinated—the peanut plant will grow a flower, which is pegging. The peanut embryo is in the tip of the peg, which penetrates the soil. Then, the embryo turns horizontal to the soil and begins to grow, taking the form of a peanut. I was able to take a peanut plant and grow it in a clear plastic container which allowed us to see what happened beneath the soil. We watched the roots grow and saw the peanut “pegging” into a peanut pod. Then, I took the container to class. When I pulled the peanut plant out and my student saw the peanuts, their faces showed their excitement. We had six peanuts pods. We plan to take those peanuts and see if we can grow more in our classroom. Some students say no because we are not farmers. Others say yes, we can because we will have help from a farmer. We should see what happens in 140 days.
