On a cool October morning at Sundance Farms in Danielsville, Ga., Ed Janosik and his long-time employee Uriel look forward to harvesting their peanut crop. It’s a welcome bounty that arrives just after the rush of summer crops has slowed. They stack the tubers one by one onto overturned yellow buckets arranged around a stake in the ground; this is the peanut pile. Every dig draws eager snorts from the pigpen—they are anticipating a snack just as much as Ed and Uriel.
The peanut plant first grows upward, showcasing its sunny yellow flowers to pollination suitors. Following success, the plant drops to the land to set down pegs into the soil. Each peg will, hopefully, become a peanut. A quick shake of the uprooted plant reveals the peanut shells, like wrapped presents. Tiny nodules on the roots indicate the underground process of nitrogen fixation performed by this hardworking legume over the last 120 days.
At Sundance Farms, they grow Tennessee Redskins, a varietal commonly dried and roasted for peanut butter. These peanuts are “real sweet,” says Ed, reminiscent of the peanut butter in Reese’s Cups. They also grow a varietal they call “Sundance Striped.” This second peanut came to Ed in a seed swap years ago; he cannot remember from whom or what they called it then. The peanut is intricately striped, electric purple against bright white.
Eagerly, Ed fiddles with the tough shell of his first raw peanut. He brushes away remnants of red clay as he squeezes and prods, knowing the effort will be worthwhile. The just-harvested nut boasts a complexity of flavor that is lost in a dry, roasted peanut; it offers a deep rich nuttiness brightened by a freshness more reminiscent of its legume heritage. At harvest, some of the crop has started sprouting already, and to these, Ed smiles. These early bloomers, with their sprouts peaking out from the shell, offer the most lush green quality of a raw bean and an appetizing crunch. Others are not quite mature, but in this case, that’s a bonus. These special underripe peanuts, whose shells have not fully hardened, can be boiled and eaten whole in one satisfying bite.
Story by Erin Wilson
Photographs by Paige French