Tennessee Red Valencia Peanut

Arachis hypogaea 'Tennessee Red Valencia'

vegetable

Tennessee Red Valencia is a sweet, productive Valencia-type peanut well suited to home gardens, including surprisingly far north for a peanut. Valencia peanuts carry three to five small kernels in a long shell, with bright red seed coats and a sweet flavor that makes them a favorite for boiling and for fresh roasting. The plant is a low, bushy annual legume with a remarkable trick: after the yellow flowers are pollinated, the stalks (pegs) bend down and push into the soil, where the pods form and ripen underground. Like other legumes it fixes its own nitrogen, so it needs little feeding, but it is hungry for calcium to fill its pods.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Corn — A tall partner that shares the warm-season bed and casts light shade without crowding the low peanut plants
• Squash — Sprawling vines act as a living mulch over the soil where the pegs are entering, keeping weeds down
• Marigold — Helps suppress the root-knot nematodes that damage peanut roots and pods in sandy soil

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Leaf spot →

  Fungal early and late leaf spots cause defoliation - rotate away from peanuts, give plants airflow, and remove crop debris at season end

• Root-knot nematodes →

  Rotate with non-host crops, build organic matter, and interplant marigolds in sandy ground

• Aphids →

  Rinse off colonies and encourage ladybugs and lacewings; treat heavy clusters with insecticidal soap

• Spider mites →

  Worst in hot, dry spells - rinse the foliage and keep plants from drought-stressing

🌾 Harvest & storage

Valencia types are ready in roughly 90 to 110 days, when the foliage yellows and begins to fade. Lift a test plant and check the pods: mature shells show dark veining on the outside and colored inner hulls. Pull or dig the whole plant, shake off the soil, and cure it: hang or lay the plants in a dry, airy, shaded spot for two to three weeks until the shells rattle and the kernels are dry, then strip and store. Curing is what develops the flavor, so do not rush it.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Raw peanuts are nutrient-dense at about 567 calories per 100 g, with a high 25.8 g protein, around 8.5 g fiber, very high niacin (about 12 mg) and folate (about 240 mcg), plus magnesium and potassium and healthy unsaturated fats. They are a satisfying plant protein, eaten boiled, roasted, or ground into butter. Note: peanuts are one of the most common serious food allergens - never serve to anyone with a peanut allergy.