Our dry summer hurt a lot of crops, but not peanuts. Jeff Anthony of The Family Farmer says his peanuts are doing fine, thank you. “I think these peanuts could grow in the Sahara!” he says with a laugh.
Anthony and partner Rodney Gabriel are growing their peanuts on their 43 acres in Rockdale County. They’ve planted three 100-foot rows of “Schronce’s Deep Black Peanut.” The plants are tough, but they’re also decorative. “Our plants look really beautiful. In mid-July they had really pretty orange-yellow flowers that kind of look like a small viola.”
Those peanuts are a selection from Gordon Schronce, father of Arty Schronce of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, who grows his peanuts in Iron Station, North Carolina. The senior Schronce has been growing these since 1980 when he acquired three peanuts from a neighbor. Over the years he built up his stock and now they’re available from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange as Schronce’s Deep Black Peanut, a strain the elder Schronce has refined over the years to yield peanuts with a deep violet-black skin. They’re also available from Sand Hill Preservation Center.
Anthony began growing these peanuts as much for the novelty as for any other reason. “I love the idea of planting crops that aren’t widely cultivated and things you can’t find at the grocery store. My customers love our reasonable prices and knowing that they’re buying local.”
The farm is selling at the Marietta Square Farmers Market on Saturdays and Sundays, and at the Old Town market in Conyers on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Seeds planted in mid-May produce peanuts for harvest in late September or October. “If you don’t pull them up, you find the peanuts start to germinate. A really good rain around that time will also make the peanuts start to germinate. So as soon as the plants start to die down, it’s time to get those peanuts harvested.
“The peanuts are right at the surface of the soil. So we cut off the majority of the plant and then gently pull it up. Usually all the peanuts come up with the roots. Then you leave the peanuts on the plant and let them dry there. It’s kind of like curing off sweet potatoes. You want to spread them out and let the heat dry out the peanuts. We spread them out on tables in the sun and when they’re dry, we pull them off the plants.”
Their crop this year is from seed saved from last year’s harvest. “You sort through all the peanuts and save the biggest ones for planting. That’s how you get the traits you want, in this case bigger, longer pods. These peanuts are good roasted, but you know, they’re also pretty good raw.”
Dot Schronce’s Peanut Brittle
If you’ve never made peanut brittle, this is the perfect starter recipe, courtesy of Dot Schronce wife of Gordon Schronce whose “Schronce’s Deep Black Peanut” is sold by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.
It has four ingredients, simple instructions, no need for a candy thermometer and its delicious results almost guaranteed. The Schronces make their brittle with skin-on peanuts and they like a mix of red- and black-skinned peanuts. You can also make this with the skins removed.
Here are some tips for peanut brittle success from the Schronce family:
The baking soda reacts with the hot syrup and creates carbon dioxide bubbles that will make the final product light and airy. If the baking soda is not fresh, the chemical reaction will be reduced. So open a new box.
When the baking soda is stirred into the heated syrup mixture, it foams up and looks like the lava in a sixth-grader’s science project on volcanoes.
When you pour the “lava” onto the buttered cookie sheet it will look like a loaf of pizza dough. Do not spread it out; it will spread and flatten out enough on its own. If you spread it out, you will break apart the bubbles that make the brittle light and airy.
When the brittle has cooled and hardened, break it into pieces by hitting the flat side of it with the back side of a heavy spoon.
The recipe is best made in winter. During warm, hot or humid weather the brittle can be sticky and lack the desired texture.
Butter to grease cookie sheet
1 3/4 cups raw peanuts, skin on
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup white corn syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
Lightly butter a cookie sheet and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine peanuts, sugar and corn syrup over high heat. Bring mixture to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Then reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until peanuts make a popping noise and syrup turns the color of honey, about 25 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in baking soda quickly and thoroughly. Immediately pour onto buttered cookie sheet and allow to cool. When cool, break into pieces and store in an airtight container. Makes: 1 1/4 pounds
Per 1-ounce serving: 144 calories (percent of calories from fat, 38), 3 grams protein, 20 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 6 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 1 milligram cholesterol, 143 milligrams sodium.
AT LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS
4:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3. Chef Carolynn Ladd of A Date with Figs demonstrates dishes using market produce. East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, Atlanta. http://www.farmeav.com/
9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5. Chef Tom Hall of Baraonda. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5. Chef Jenn Robbins. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
4 p.m. – 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10. Chef Paola Villafane demonstrates dishes using market produce. Decatur Farmers Decatur, Atlanta. http://cfmatl.org/decatur/
FOR SALE
Vegetables, fruit and nuts: apples, arugula, Asian greens, beets, broccoli raab, cabbage, carrots, chard, chestnuts, collards, cornmeal, cucumbers, eggplant, field peas, garlic, ginger, grits, herbs, kale, kiwi, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, onions, pecans, peppers, persimmons, pole and snap beans, polenta, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, shallots, summer squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, winter squash
From local reports
