Daddy's Peanuts

This story is about how my Daddy grew a peanut crop and what they were used for. First, I need to explain a few words that may seem odd to you.

   Tow sack = burlap bag
   Branch = a small creek
   Crib = a side shed of the barn
   Parch = to roast peanuts

Daddy would soak a tow sack filled with 50 pounds of peanuts, in shell, in a branch for a couple of days so that when planted they would sprout and come up faster. He would have the mule pull them out to put on the wagon and take to the field to plant.

To harvest the peanuts, Daddy would use a plow to turn the vines up to dry out. When they were dried, he would take a pitchfork to put them on the wagon to take to the barn to unload in the crib. This load just about filled the crib half full. We would sit on top of the vines while picking the peanuts off the vines. We would put the peanuts in buckets and feed some to the pigs to fatten them up for butchering later on, some we shared with neighbors, some we used for planting the next crop and some we would parch in an iron skillet in the wood burning stove to eat while sitting in front of the fireplace ... yum yum. I can almost smell them now, can you??? We always saved enough peanuts for Mama to make peanut brittle. She would get sugar, water and white Karo and put it in a pot on the stove to cook. When it started boiling she put the peanuts in and stirred it until they popped. The pot was taken off the heat and the soda was added. With a quick stirring it was poured onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet to cool. Then the fun began as Mama would break the brittle into pieces and hand us one or two to enjoy. We smelled it when it was cooking and we could hardly wait to get a piece of Mama's delicious peanut brittle.