Last weekend, we headed out to the country for pumpkins and apple picking. It was a gorgeous fall day (at last!) and the farms were packed. At Hollin Farms, we came across an unexpected treat: dig-your-own peanuts! The boy and husband got to work loosening the plants and we all picked through the roots for the buried treasure.
At home, I soaked, scrubbed, roasted and boiled to try our fresh peanuts two ways. FYI, fresh peanuts taste not unlike raw potatoes. With enough salt, however, they are delicious. And the boiled peanuts, still soft in their shells, are oddly addictive.
While I’m not going to start growing enough to make my own peanut butter anytime soon, at least the kids know now that peanuts come from the ground, not jars.
This post is part of Blog Action Day 2011: Food. One of my favorite local causes, the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture, is bringing schoolkids to their farm on the grounds of the historic Woodlawn Plantation in Virginia to see where their food comes from. Visit their blog for updates from Farmer Mo, and if you’re so inclined, you can support their efforts by attending their upcoming November 5 fundraiser, The Vices that Made Virginia.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Larissa // Oct 19, 2011 at 9:15 pm
My kids absolutely love digging their own peanuts!!
2 Bethesda Locavore // Oct 19, 2011 at 9:51 pm
Awesome. My kind of field trip. How great for your kids! I will have to bring my kids out there to dig peanuts someday.
Bethesda Locavore´s last blog post post ..Tomatoland, Part I
3 shahar // Oct 22, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Great pictures – children have their own curiosity about nature 🙂
4 Faith // Oct 24, 2011 at 11:16 pm
Great experience ! Nowaday not many young children know where do peanuts come from. Fun fact: peanuts are actually technically not nuts! They’re legumes, and are a part of the pea family. Weird.
Faith´s last blog post post ..Gold FX Report
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