Peanuts vs heat, over-watering, fungus, and snow

by Darrell Owens
(San Antonio, Texas, USA)

I bought a packet of Texas Red and White peanuts from David's storefront last year. It was the first year of our raised garden experiment and we direct-sowed the seed in the first week of May, way too late here in San Antonio. My wife was staying home with our new daughter at the time, so she was watering. Every day. We got some sprouts for some things, but between the lack of oxygen in the root zone, the insects, and the fungus that grew from the abundant water, nothing thrived, much less produced. Except the peanuts. We had beautiful mounds of green with bright yellow flowers all summer and fall. They even made it through the 2 inches of snow we got in December. We've already got some of the biggest peanuts from that group in the ground and growing well. I'd send these seeds to Mars and expect them to grow.