pixel skylines
almost home
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
$LAYYYTER
Andulka
Product Placement
d e v o n
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
Xuebing Du
gracie abrams
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
occasionally subtle
taylor price
ojovivo
Sweet Seals For You, Always
cherry valley forever
★
Misplaced Lens Cap
Sade Olutola
No title available
seen from India
seen from Türkiye
seen from Brazil
seen from Malaysia
seen from Burkina Faso
seen from T1
seen from United States
seen from Ukraine
seen from Iraq
seen from Canada
seen from United States
seen from Paraguay
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from India
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
@hopeharmonyfarms-blog
Virginia Peanuts have a rich history in the State of Virginia and beyond. From Colonial times to present day, peanuts and the state of Virginia have gone hand and hand. Without the work done by George Washington Carver and Benjamin Hicks however, we might not have the luxury of super crunchy Virginia Peanuts today.
Fresh Roasted Virginia Peanuts
Hope & Harmony Farms. Shop Online hopeandharmonyfarms.com Direct from our farm to your table
Hope & Harmony Farms Virginia peanuts harvest.
3 Tips For Peanut Etiquette & Allergies
Peanut allergies are not new. However, both consumers and healthcare providers are more likely to consider testing for peanut allergies now than ten to twenty years ago, based on concerns they may have. Diagnosing food allergies requires a combination of considering history, blood or skin tests, and potentially an oral challenge. Not only is diagnosis more common, but also awareness of the allergy and the dangers of it are much more well-known.
Clearly, peanut allergies are a difficult topic for our business and an unfortunate reality for all involved. That is why when the Food and Drug Administration released a statement regarding new peanut allergy related qualified health claim we listened.
The FDA has approved a new qualified health claim for products meant to help introduce peanut foods to infants as follows:
For most infants with severe eczema and/or egg allergy who are already eating solid foods, introducing foods containing ground peanuts between 4 and 10 months of age and continuing consumption may reduce the risk of developing peanut allergy by 5 years of age. FDA has determined, however, that the evidence supporting this claim is limited to one study.
If your infant has severe eczema and/or egg allergy, check with your infant’s healthcare provider before feeding foods containing ground peanuts.
According to the release, peanut allergies more than doubled between 1997 and 2008. Not only has it doubled, but also up to two percent of American children are allergic to the legume. While most doctors have historically advised parents to wait until age three to introduce the peanut to children who are at high risk for the allergy, that guideline has now been altered.
Based on the results of a ground-breaking clinical trial, the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (along with the American Academy of Pediatrics and experts in allergies) now advises parents to introduce peanut foods at a much earlier age. The press release states that, “introducing foods containing smooth peanut butter to babies as early as 4 months of age who are at high risk of developing a peanut allergy—due to severe eczema or egg allergy or both—reduces their risk of developing peanut allergy later in childhood by about 80 percent.”
This finding is significant since the majority of peanut allergy for individuals developed during childhood and they never grew out of it. Implementing the new guidelines could quite possibly result in fewer children developing peanut allergy.
It is important to note that whole peanuts should not be given to such young children; however, ground peanuts (e.g. peanut flour or powdered peanut butter) or peanut butter thinned with a little water allow for safer exposure. Despite the finding, the FDA was sure to stress contacting your infant’s healthcare professional prior to exposing your child to the food.
As research continues to develop regarding peanuts and peanut allergies, it is important to remember that some peanut allergic children do react severally and risk death when they ingest peanuts. Therefore, Hope and Harmony Farms thought it would be beneficial to give a few peanut etiquette rules to following during the school year:
1) Be aware if your child has a classmate with a peanut allergy. If your child loves to snack on peanuts or eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they must understand that they cannot share their food.
2) When you send peanut butter cookies to school, be sure the peanut allergic classmate also has a safe snack or treat. Remember, it must also be stored separately.
3) Remind your child to wash their hands before and after lunch. Simply washing hands reduces the risk of cross contact – and it’s just good hygiene.
It is important for Hope and Harmony Farms to provide quality gourmet products and quality customer service. We also believe the same customer service should be provided to those that will never be our direct clients as a result of their allergy.
For the 99% of Americans without peanut allergy, our products are a completely safe way to eat more plant based protein and boost your vitamin and mineral intake. We are hopeful that ongoing research in this area will reduce the numbers of peanut allergic children and adults in the future.
Virginia Peanuts Q and A- Let's talk peanuts!
It is always wonderful to present at shows and talk with people from across our great nation. I am so happy to hear that you are concerned about the foods you eat and ask questions about where peanuts come from. After all, you will not know if you do not ask. I decided to sit down and answer some of the questions we encountered while attending a recent food show. And yes, we are real fourth generation peanut farmers from Virginia!
Q: What are Virginia Peanuts?
A: Virginia peanuts are the largest of the four peanut varieties grown and usually contain two large elongated peanuts with light reddish skins.
Q: Why are Virginia peanuts so different?
A: Virginia peanuts are valued for their large size, beauty, excellent peanut flavor, meaty texture and high nutritional value. These peanuts are known as the “gourmet nut”.
Q: Where are Virginia peanuts grown?
A: Virginia peanuts are predominantly grown in the southeastern corner of Virginia, the northeastern corner of North Carolina, South Carolina, and even portions of west Texas. In 2014, Southampton County’s peanut yield broke the national average with 4,350 pounds of peanuts per acre. Hope and Harmony Farms will harvest 390 acres of peanuts in 2017.
Q: Are Virginia Peanuts good for you?
A: Of course! Peanuts are good for all sorts of things and Virginia peanuts are no different. Peanuts are impressive nutrient powerhouses, in fact, they have more than 30 essential vitamins and nutrients. Eating foods rich in fiber, such as Virginia peanuts, can help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, help regulate your blood sugar and lower your cholesterol.
Fiber and Protein. These nutrients are designed to help you stay fuller longer after eating. In addition, they help to support your immune system and provide amino acids that are necessary for maintaining muscle tissue.
Peanuts are heart-friendly with monounsaturated fats and antioxidants.
Copper and Magnesium. Raw peanuts have a high level of copper and magnesium The copper found in raw peanuts helps to promote muscle function while helping your cells produce energy and aids in reducing bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol.
Folate and Vitamin E. Folate, also known as vitamin B-9 and vitamin E are both found in raw peanuts. These vitamins help with disease prevention and together they provide an abundance of benefits. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that can boost the immune system and decrease the risk of heart disease, but research also shows vitamin E plays an important role in preventing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
Peanuts contain vitamin B3 or niacin content whose many health benefits include normal brain functioning and boosting memory power.
Q: Are Virginia Peanuts GMO?
A: No. Actually, no peanuts are GMO . None are currently produced and none are currently on the market. While traditional breeding does help to increase peanut varieties, it does not introduce non-peanut genetics to the peanut plant. Therefore, the GMO peanut does not exist.
Virginia Peanut Farm Celebrates National Peanut Day!
National Peanut Day is today, September 13; in celebration of National Peanut Day, Hope & Harmony Farms wishes to recognize our coming harvest. Peanuts are our livelihood and the production of a successful crop is always something to celebrate. While we have a ways to go to see our harvest come to fruition, I wanted to take the time to explain our peanut production and what it takes to complete our harvest.
What is the growing season?
Virginia peanuts are typically a five-month crop, and peanuts are planted after the last frost in April through May. The prime planting window occurs when soil temperatures reach 65°-70°F. We plant specially grown peanut kernels from the previous year’s crop about two inches in freshly turned soil, and approximately one to two inches apart in rows. For a good peanut crop, 120 to 150 frost-free days are required.
For Hope & Harmony Farms in Virginia, this is sometimes a little tricky. Due to wet and cool conditions during this year’s planting season, we were still planting peanuts into the first week of June. Not only did planting take longer to complete, but our area is also known for early frosts. The coming months and weeks will require a lot of hard work, dedication, and a little luck as we attempt to avoid any premature cold.
When are Virginia peanuts harvested?
Hope & Harmony Farms will begin this year’s Virginia peanut harvest in about ten days as begin the digging process. If Mother Nature cooperates, at the end of our ten-day wait the Pope boys will ride for miles upon miles stirring the fresh aroma of peanuts in the air. I guess I am a little excited, too!
The boys are currently working tediously to prepare our equipment. Equipment does not consist solely of tractors, but also the diggers and the peanut combines our tractors tow. Their preparation builds to the first day and on the first day of harvest the guys are like kids on Christmas morning. I guess there is still a little boy in each of them.
I would like to say once our Virginia peanut harvest arrives it is smooth sailing, but that is never the case. You have equipment that has been sitting idle for seven months and sometimes the machinery does not have the same enthusiasm as it operators. But, hey, that life, right?
Once the peanuts are dug and allowed to dry for a couple of days, the combine separates the peanut from the vine. When the basket is full, the peanuts are emptied into drying trailers and checked routinely before being stored for processing. There is no time clock and you work from sunup to sundown, or until everything is complete. Peanut farming is not your typical day job and eight hours does not cut it when you are working against the weather. Our boys will stay in the fields as long as they can because rain can set you back days or weeks, and frost will destroy your peanut crop.
Harvest is truly the culmination of hard work and effort. Our Virginia peanut production begins in April and will hopefully end by the close of October. What better way to celebrate the beginning of the end than National Peanut Day?
Happy Peanut Day, everyone! And remember: Love the land; Respect your roots
Chicken Pasta with Virginia Peanut pesto
www.hopeandharmonyfarms.com
A Southern Gal’s Quest for Hope and Harmony I’ve already confessed that I had no intention of moving to Southampton County and beginning a gourmet peanut company. As a young woman I also had no idea that I was on a journey toward hope and harmony through agriculture. Jeffrey’s appreciation and pride for his family home and land didn’t take long to infiltrate my understanding of what is important. Life throws you curve balls, hardships, and stressful times that force you to grow and change—most times it forces you to do so unwillingly. When changes do occur the humbled individual often turns to God for peace. While I value my Christianity and love the Big-Man upstairs, I realize that farm life and the world of agriculture, specifically peanuts, repeatedly teaches me to value hope and harmony. It didn’t take long for this farmer’s wife to understand that peanuts inspire hope. Laugh if you want, but they do! Cotton and soybeans allow you to gage their growth potential and yields throughout the growing season as they mature above ground. However, peanuts require much more: peanuts require a bit of hope! Hope means garnering optimism during moments of uncertainty. Hope for the peanut farmer means blindly trusting that the earth is nourishing your crop. Yes, there are many more factors to be considered, but the concept remains. While the plant flowers above ground, the peanuts grow below ground. During a summer of no rain or too much rain, farmers must hope. They hope that once those plants are dug and the smell of dampened peanuts fills their soul that the newly exposed vines are abundantly filled. Harvest after harvest our family recognizes the power of hope. Hope is the driving force to complete difficult tasks when nights become dawn and hope gives the strength to accept changes beyond control. Most importantly, from hope comes harmony. For my family, the word harmony represents respect for and stewardship of the land, sustainability, and working and living in balance with nature. Fortunately, our girls learned early what I also learned from their father. Jeffrey infused an appreciation for this land and the crops produced by the land as a result of hard work and hope. I want our farm to be uplifting, positive and nurturing for our family. Thankfully our ability to maintain optimism allows just that every harvest season. Each time you purchase Virginia peanuts from Hope and Harmony Farms we share a bit of our harmony created from this land. And with any hope, our Virginia peanut products will inspire your own quest for serenity. www.hopeandharmonyfarms.com *Love the land *Respect your roots *Give your best
I have a BIG confession to make. OK, get your mind out of the gutter. When I met farmer Pope back in the early nineties, I did not know how peanuts grew. GASP!! I know, I know! How dense can you be? Well give me a break, I was only nineteen and how different types of food grew was the LAST thing on my mind. So, fast forward to 2017 and now I am an expert. OK, I use that word loosely. Very loosely. I do not want to be arrested by the peanut police. Most people are surprised to learn that peanuts do not grow on trees like pecans, cashews or walnuts. Peanuts are legumes, not tree nuts. They actually grow in the ground. So why have “nut” in the name? Confusing, I know. We will just blame that on some man hundreds of years ago. What the heck is a legume, anyway? Good question, a legume is simply a dry fruit contained within a shed, pod or shell. At Hope & Harmony Farms we grow only the Virginia variety peanuts. Now, let me stop here and explain. Virginia peanuts are an actual variety of peanut. They are not called Virginia peanuts just because they are grown in Virginia. Confusing, I know. There are 4 varieties of peanuts (1) Virginia, (2) Runners, (3) Spanish, (4) Valencia. You see Virginia peanuts are like the Rolls-Royce of peanuts. Virginia peanuts are the largest variety of peanuts grown in the world. Their impressive size, crunchy texture, outstanding peanut flavor and high nutritional value are what make these peanuts a “must have” for the peanut “snob”. You see, because these are such special nuts we treat them as such by cooking them by hand in small batches. Now that I have brought you up to speed on the types of peanuts, let’s get back to how peanuts grow. The first seeds are planted after the last frost. Which for us in the big town of Drewryville is usually late April early May, when soil temperatures reach a balmy 65°—70°F. We plant specially grown and treated peanut kernels from the previous year’s crop about two inches deep, approximately one to two inches apart in rows. A lot of work goes into the land prior to planting. We till and bed the soil to ensure a rich, well-prepared seedbed. Well, let’s be honest here. I use “we” loosely. For those of you that read my first blog, remember the butter bean fiasco, farmer Pope does all of the tilling and bedding. I only visit the fields, ride along and offer encouragement. Looks good honey! Great job! You want to see a p!$t off farmer? Create a crooked peanut row. The peanut row must be perfectly straight!! This is NOT open for discussion. I was fired from planting and harvesting over 23 years ago and I am very, very thankful. My talents are elsewhere. Let me get back on track. For a good crop, 120 to 140 frost free days are required. Approximately 10 days after planting it really starts to get exciting. The peanuts seedlings rise out of the ground and grow into a green oval leafed plant about 18 to 20 inches tall. The peanut plant will flower above ground, but fruits below ground. So here is the cool part. Every flower represents a peanut below ground. How cool is that?? So, imagine how excited farmer Pope gets when we see a field full of yellow flowers. These beautiful yellow flowers begin to emerge about 40 days after planting. These flowers will then pollinate themselves and the petals will fall off as the peanut ovary or peg begins to form. This process is called pegging. This is a unique process to the peanut plant. The peg enlarges and grows down and away from the plant forming a small stem which extends to the soil. The peanut embryo is in the tip of the peg, which penetrates the soil. The embryo turns horizontal to the soil surface and begins to mature taking the form of a peanut. The peanut plant continues to grow and flower, eventually producing some 50 or more pods. From planting to harvesting, it can take up to 5 months for the peanuts to mature. Peanuts are delicate in that watering is a must. Peanut plants need about 2 inches of water per week during kernel development. If the heavens do not meet our needs, we will irrigate our fields. Without sufficient rainfall, non-irrigated peanuts will begin to show drought stress. How about this cool fact? Peanuts are a nitrogen-fixing plant. Huh?? Its roots form nodules which absorb nitrogen from the air and provide enrichment and nutrition to the plant and soil. Cool, I know. When the peanut plants are mature, the peanuts are ready for harvest. When conditions are right, Farmer Pope will drive a digger up and down the green rows of peanut plants. The digger has long blades that run four to six inches under the ground. The plant is loosened and the tap root is severed. Just behind the blade, the shaker will lift the plant from the soil and gently shake the dirt from the peanuts, rotates the peanut plant and lays the plant back down with peanuts up and leaves down. These rows are called “windrows”. What is a “windrow”? A windrow is a row of peanuts laid out to dry in the wind and sun. Peanuts contain anywhere from 25 to 50 percent moisture when they are first dug and must be dried to 10 percent or less so they can be stored properly. We will leave the peanuts in windrows for three to five days to dry before being harvested. Once the peanuts have dried in the fields, a combine separates the peanuts from the vines, placing the peanuts into a hopper on the top of the machine and dropping the vines back in the field. Freshly dug peanuts are then placed into peanut trailers for further drying with forced warm air circulating through the trailer. In this final stage, the moisture content is reduced to 10 percent for storage. Peanuts are then graded by USDA inspectors and once we get the “all clear” the peanuts are shelled, blanched and then the magic happens. They arrive in my peanut kitchen where they are hand roasted, seasoned and shipped directly to you my friends! Happy eating from this small-town gal, who went smaller and got big! Country girls do survive! #smalltowngalconfession All the best, Stephanie Love the land • Respect your roots • Give your best www.hopeandharmonyfarms.com