Trying to eat healthier, (edit for me this means lower sugar, less carbs, more protein) and it seems like everything that is sweet, sweet-ish, or a snack but also sold as healthy has peanuts or is peanuts. I'm not allergic to it, but I am tired of peanut butter cookies, peanuts in a snack bar, peanuts on their own, peanuts in a snack mix.

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[–] Candelestine@lemmy.world 44 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Peanuts are unbelievably inexpensive to grow, and are a solid option for nutrition and people tend to enjoy the flavor. So, y'know, sorry to all the allergic people.

[–] Fermion@feddit.nl 13 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah, they grow kind of like a potato as nodules ~~on the roots~~ of an annual plant that's easy to grow as a field crop. As opposed to tree nuts that grow on trees that take a long time to produce, need regular maintenance, need lots of irrigation to produce well, and are more difficult to mechanically harvest.

The two groups are drastically different in what it takes to grow and process them.

[–] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social 24 points 7 months ago (4 children)

That isn’t how they grow.

It’s waaayyy weirder than that.

They start as flowers above the ground and then after pollination the flower stems bend to the ground and bury themselves to make the peanut.

Peanuts are fucking weird

[–] wjrii@kbin.social 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yup. They're basically beans that were raised as tubers and think they're tree nuts.

Then you boil them in a brine and they become redneck oysters.

[–] Drusas@kbin.social 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Boil them with crab boil and a ton of crushed red pepper. So good.

[–] wjrii@kbin.social 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The best I can find around here in north Texas are pre packaged raw peanuts, so they’re kinda old and super dry. They still boil up fine, but it takes for-fucking-ever. I’ve found that salt and Adobo seasoning gives them a nice mellow garlic flavor that works really well for me. Canned Cajun style are good too, though there are more squishies than I’d prefer.

[–] Drusas@kbin.social 1 points 7 months ago

Oh, I like it spicy. They ship pretty well if you know somebody who lives somewhere that they're more readily available. Until I found somewhere to buy fresh peanuts locally, I occasionally had a family member ship them to me from Florida. They might be available online, too.

[–] moistclump@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Damn, that’s nuts.

[–] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social 2 points 7 months ago

lol

[–] Fermion@feddit.nl 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Thanks for the tidbit, I wasn't aware of just how strange they were since I haven't grown them myself. Maybe I should try growing some this year.

You inspired me to look up more. Peanuts require around 3.3 gallons per oz of peanuts, whereas almonds require around 29 gallons per oz.

[–] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I want to try growing peanuts so bad, but I am renting right now and I don’t think they would grow worth a fuck in a grow bag

[–] Fermion@feddit.nl 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It does seem like something that could be worth just trying. I can't imagine the seeds/nuts would cost much. So if you already have grow bags there's not much to lose by experimenting with it.

Do you have a balcony that gets some direct light? I tried balcony growing in a northwest facing apartment balcony. It was enough to keep some things alive, but not enough light to actually get much flowers or fruits. I definitely appreciate your frustration.

That was one of our main motivations to buy a house tbh. So many plants never truly thrive in containers, and spending hundreds on grow lights to grow $10 worth of food is hard to justify.

[–] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social 2 points 7 months ago

It’s my main motivation too. lol

I’m looking but the market is dead in the winter and with rates where they are.

[–] Drusas@kbin.social 3 points 7 months ago

Sure they would. I semi-accidentally grew some in a pot once.

[–] Usernameblankface@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

Wow! So little water!

[–] Coherence@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

I had no idea. Thank you for expanding my knowledge on a plant that I eat almost daily. Truly fascinating!

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago

I was in a Thai restaurant once and overheard a woman actually say to the waiter "I'm allergic to peanuts, is there anything on the menu you'd recommend". I left shortly afterwards so didn't see if she died by breathing the air in there...

[–] Usernameblankface@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

I figured they had to be cheap. So many products skimp on everything else and put lots of peanuts or peanut butter in there

[–] Drusas@kbin.social 6 points 7 months ago

I kept a bag of raw peanuts for a little too long once and they started to sprout. I stuck some in a planter and those things grew like crazy.