Life is funny sometimes. Every now and then, you wake up and realize you’re doing something you never really had any intention of doing. Like becoming the unofficial driver for your kids’ soccer teams because you had the Chevy Suburban, or the neighborhood wildlife keeper because you were silly enough to start feeding a few birds or caring for ONE injured critter. One act of volunteerism or kindness can quickly take on a life of its own.
And that is the situation I now face since I have unintentionally become the neighborhood peanut farmer.
It all started out quite innocently – as most things do – when I decided to add wildlife quality in-the-shell-peanuts to my bird feeders. The feeders were already heavily visited by neighborhood birds. However, the addition of the peanuts to the mix caused a near riot between the starlings, cardinals, blue jays, juncos, northern mockingbirds, woodpeckers, and of course, the squirrels and chipmunks.
At first it was amusing to watch the comings and goings at the feeders, but my blissful naivete ended quickly when I went to work in the garden a few weeks later and noticed unusual “weeds” popping up in my planters, flower beds, and grass. As I pulled out one of these new visitors to my garden, I saw a peanut, still partially in its shell. And not just that, this peanut had already created an extensive rhizome root system and 8+ inches of lovely forest green true leaves.
I had a peanut bush!
Hailing from Canada and now living in Kentucky, I had never seen this. When I think about growing peanuts, my brain goes to Georgia, or Jimmy Carter, or Mr. Peanut – not my backyard. But wait, it gets better (or worse – depending on how you choose to look at it). As I continued to garden, I saw dozens more peanut bushes in various stages of maturity throughout my property. Apparently, thanks to the goofy squirrels and chipmunks who bury their nuts (and then forget where they buried them) and the birds who drop or spill them onto the ground as they fly away, I am now growing approximately 3 dozen – and counting – peanut bushes.
Of course, my husband thinks this is great. He has always been a peanut junkie and cannot wait to see if we can harvest these little devils before the first frost. For now, I am content to let nature do its thing. I’ve read peanuts are not really considered to be invasive. But if these bushes start to supplant my other beloved perennials or decide to send their rhizomes into the stratosphere -watch out!
Then again, one peanut plant will produce approximately 30-40 peanuts and one 12 oz. jar of peanut butter requires about 540 peanuts. With 3 dozen plants, I’m well on my way.
Hmm, peanut butter cookies anyone?
