Planim Pinat

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"Pinat" Peanut! Get your fresh pinat here!

 

This was our 7th visit to the village.  We are now experts at “brukim wara”  going through the river. This time we learned the art of digging up peanuts and getting them ready for market!  While the ladies dug up the peanuts the men went and worked on clearing grass in another garden area.  Gardens are their life line here.  With out them they wouldn’t eat or make money!  You must understand gardening and the importance of it in their culture to be able to understand life for them.

 

Our teacher and now good friend. Dispela meri em strongpela wok meri!

 

 

 

It all starts with the seed. Peanuts look a little different in the shell here. I had never had a fresh peanut before. Of course they taste a little different than in a can, but still very good! Our friends in our class bought some of these peanuts we dug up and made boiled peanuts. Another first for us, they were good too.

 

For those of you who are wondering…Brayden was not with us. (He’s allergic to peanuts).  It was kind of fun to be around peanuts again.  This time we got to get dirty and dig them up.  The ground was a bit dry and a little hard to work with.  Our teacher showed us how to dig around the plant, bring up the whole clump of ground the plant was in, then we would “pait” (hit) the clump of dirt with our shovels and the dirt would come loose from the plant.  Yes is was a bit of work, but good for us!

 

After you drop the seed in the ground it begins to grow.

 

Another time I went to the garden with a different meri and I got the chance to prepare the ground for planting the peanut.  There were some left over peanuts in the ground after they had dug this area of peanuts up beforehand.  The meri handed leftover seeds to me so I could put them in the ground and say I planted my first peanut!!  Literally the peanut itself was the seed.  For all you gardeners I am sure you are thinking well yes Shara this is how it works, but this was all new to me, and it was a highlight!!

 

Then it matures into a very nice green leafy plant above ground. While underneath it is producing many more peanuts.

 

Something interesting about a PNG garden would be that they really don’t have clean looking rows of specific plants.  Nope they plant peanuts then a little later they plant corn right in the same place. They look a little unorganized but they have a purpose for it all.  The corn helps them know when the peanuts will be ready.  After the corn is ready to pick then a few weeks later the peanuts are ready.

 

I found out that people are not the only ones who like to eat "pinats" (peanuts). Frogs do too! The frogs dig, yah you heard me right, they dig up the peanuts and then bite into the shell to eat the peanuts. Our teacher does not like frogs, for good reason too! Who knew? Yah OK, you might of, but I didn't!

 

We had 5 white meris digging up peanuts so we got the job done fast.  We always laugh and learn together.  It has been great to have others who are going through the same phase of life as us.  We keep each other going when it is hard, and laughing when we make mistakes!

The men came back to help finish up the peanut job!

 

While it is "meri" (woman's) work to plant, care for, and dig up the pinat, the man's job is to remove the roots and of corse eat the peanuts as they work!

 

I love this picture as it shows our national teacher rubbing shoulders with us in doing what ever it takes to help us learn their way of life.  What a blessing it is to have these friends and teachers who are willing to take the time with us!

 

When the peanut plant is ready, you dig it up, you remove the roots, and if the frogs don't get to them, you have a bundle of healthy peanuts that make good money at the market!

 

And there you have it.  Now you too can grow peanuts in your gardens.  I don’t think we will be growing any peanuts in a garden while Brayden lives with us, but this was a great experience.  Now when I get a chance to go out and help a meri in her garden I will be “save” (to know what I am doing).  These times in the village help build relationships and give us time with our PNG friends!

 

 

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