In a previous post, Grocery Store Sources of Gardening Seeds, I found that raw peanuts in the shell, purchased at my local grocery store, would germinate and produce peanut plants. I’ve been growing several of these plants in containers. They germinated easily, with a better than 50% germination rate, which is pretty good considering they are not sold for germination and planting. This type of source for peanut seeds is also inexpensive.
This prepping and survival post is about growing your own peanuts, as a source of protein and dietary fat. If some disaster disrupts the food distribution system, it will be important to have another source of food. Your stored food can only last so long. And there are basically only three possible sources of food: bought food, stored food, and food you produce yourself. I suppose you could hope that the government will give away free food or ration coupons, as a fourth option. Good luck with that. So basically there are only three reliable sources of food.
If you are growing food for survival, rather than enjoyment, forget about the salad fixings. You literally cannot survive on most of the usual garden plants: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, etc. These foods are low in fat, low in protein, and low in carbs. The three macronutrients that you need for survival are just that: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. So my series of posts called “Survival Gardening…” is aimed at identifying the best garden sources of macronutrients.
The humble peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is among the best garden sources of protein and dietary fat. Outside of the U.S., the peanut is more often called the groundnut. It is a legume that grows underground. The flowers produce a stem that grows downward, into the soil, where it produces the peanut seed surrounded by a leathery shell. The peanut plant has about a four month growing season (120 days), although some varieties reach maturity in as few as 100 days.
Peanuts have a high percentage of all essential amino acids, except lysine (0.70 of ideal value). The Institute of Medicine’s ideal amount of lysine is 5.1% of total protein. Lysine has 70% of that ideal, meaning that 3.59% of the total protein of peanut is lysine. But at 25.8% total protein, that percent of lysine is more than sufficient. Peanut provides 0.926 grams of lysine per 100 grams of whole food. Rice provides only 0.258 grams of lysine per 100 grams of whole food. So from a practical point of view, peanuts are a complete protein.
Peanuts are about 49% dietary fat, and about a third of that fat is the omega-6 essential fatty acid. Peanuts are high enough in fat to press for oil in a small home press (such as the Piteba press). They are an easy to grow source of protein and fat from the backyard garden or small farm.
A cautionary note is in order:
“Poor storage of peanuts can lead to an infection by the mold fungus Aspergillus flavus, releasing the toxic and highly carcinogenic substance aflatoxin. The aflatoxin-producing molds exist throughout the peanut growing areas and may produce aflatoxin in peanuts when conditions are favorable to fungal growth.” (Wikipedia)
To avoid this problem, the peanut crop should be thoroughly dried immediately after harvest, while still in the shell. Roasting the dried peanuts, in or out of the shell, will kill any mold spores. So it would be best to do both: dry thoroughly, then promptly cook. Store in a dry sealed container (with some silica gel to absorb any excess moisture).
More on growing peanuts: Alternative Field Crops Manual
Related article: Living off the land: How much land?
- Thoreau
Great article. Any idea on how much area you would need in order to have a decent yield as a food source? Thanks
Peanuts give a commercial yield of 1000 to 2000 lbs per acre, including the weight of the shells (30% of the total weight is shell). So I guess it depends on how much you like peanuts.
Potatoes are a biggie. Search for “potato towers”.
What type of climate do they grow best in?
Peanuts need plenty of warm weather, but they don’t require a lot of rain. They can be grown throughout most of the U.S.