All this week I popped out of bed
Made breakfast, did chores, and I said
Not all white girls are “stoosh”
As proof I went into the bush
But now I’m so tired I feel like I’m dead!
It’s Peanut Time and everyone, everyone has peanuts to harvest.
The Process:
Once peanuts reach maturity (approximately 3 months after planting) they need to be pulled. For this you arrive at the farm early in the morning (because “It’s so hot in Elim that…”). You pull up the peanut plants by their roots, shake off excess dirt, and leave them in large piles to dry in the sun for several days.
An acre of land could take 5 people 3 full days to pull.
Once the peanut plants are no longer in the ground, organized into messy piles, and have dried in the sun for at least 3 full days, you can begin the process of actually ‘picking’ the peanuts off of the plant.
This activity, blessedly, can be done in the shade but has to be done sooner rather than later because birds, unfortunately, also like peanuts.
This same acre takes those same 5 people 5 more days to pick and sort.
I'm day dreaming about ice cream
These peanuts, in their shells, lay out in the sun (yes, again) for 3 more days.
By this time they are “well dry” and so am I.
Time to get hydrated.
The next activity, although not as urgent, but just as tedious involves cracking the shells and retrieving the nuts. Hours (and now days) of my life have petered away during this mindless, (but necessary) task.
Suffice to say I’ve had peanuts at every meal; peanut porridge, parched peanuts, rice ‘n peanuts, peanut dumplings, peanut juice, peanuts on my salad, peanuts in my oats, peanut cakes, peanut drops, and on and on.
I’ve done little else this past week.
And what I have done has been at night.
And always in front of the fan.
Tonight, pray for me to have creamy, sugary, cold (think peanut-dairy) wet-dreams.
Yours until the ice ages,
‘mi 🙂
Adventuresam 