Pickin' Goober Peas

Or in other words, this is a blog about our peanut harvest! Just like my cotton post earlier, I'm providing videos to go along with my past peanut "tutorials".  I won't go into much detail here, so if you want to see more pictures or need something explained further, check out my past peanut posts! Here's two explaining peanut inverting (click here and here), and here's one explaining the combine process (click here).

(No award winning video here, I was trying to keep up with the tractor!)

This is our peanut inverter. It plows under the peanuts, cuts the taproots, and the peanut plants are carried up a set of roller chains.  On the back of the plow, a set of V-shaped rollers combine 2 rows into 1, and the inverter spring rods "invert" or flip the peanut plants upside down to where the peanuts are on top of the ground.

(This is the view from the tractor cab).

After the peanuts dry for 2-3 days, we combine them.  The combine does 2 rows of inverted peanuts (formerly 4 rows of un-inverted peanuts) at a time.  The peanut vines are pulled in and shaker pans seperate the peanuts from the vines. 

(Same process, different view).

The vines and other trash blow out the back, and the peanuts are blown into the basket on top of the combine.

(You should totally mute the volume on this video cause somebody asked me a question during filming, and I sound like I should be on Hee Haw, oh and sorry about the dark video, only time I could get it!)

When the basket on top of the combine is full (about 3 tons of peanuts), it is dumped into the dump cart.

(If you didn't press the mute button on the last video, all the talking in the background of this video is the group of 4-H kids that I was talking about).

The dump cart is then pulled by a tractor next to a peanut trailer, where it dumps the peanuts. Each trailer can haul 24 tons of peanuts. Our peanuts are then hauled to Samson, Alabama (way south of here!) to the Brooks Peanut Company.

There ya have it, the goober pea pickin' process! Now go out and support your local (or not so local) peanut farmers!