The only ones we ever ate were called morstals? We called them pine trees as they grew straight up with wavy fin like sides. The others were called puff balls which grew to around a foot across. But they were if sliced too thick became slimy when fried but if cut very thin were tasty.

Nope, I grow Perilla and agree with carrieb this is an Amaranth.

Hi Socks - I set it up myself...well, my six year old son and 12 year old daughter helped a bit...pretty easy. Now, I am definitely not as confident in my ability to get it to pop 'down'...we'll see... I am mostly concerned about squirrels and chipmunks, I think. They just tear into everything around these parts. One summer they used every singly seat cushion on my deck furniture chairs to pad their nests! I really despise them. Maybe they won't be interested in this (I hope). Not sure what to do to keep them away, really. So, I am trying to extend the amount of time I keep a bunch of my cacti and succulents outdoors, rather than jamming them into my sunroom this year. That way, I may try to segue them into a dark dormancy in my garage instead of the sunroom - giving them a deeper sleep perhaps AND freeing up growing space under HID lights in my sunroom. They just wouldn't get the same dry cold in the sunroom that I think I can give them with the greenhouse - maybe end up with better flowering next year, too? By the end of November, I think they will all be indoors somewhere - either garage or sunroom. Then, the snows come...seems so far away with 90s forecast all week for us ;-). Josh - I see what you mean...just hope it doesn't get overtaken by marauding banditos! T

Peanuts are fun to grow, but there are many varieties and most require a long growing season before you can harvest the nuts. This is why they are grown mostly in the South. Also, if you have squirrels, they may harvest them before you do! Typically for the north you can either purchase a shorter-season variety, or start plants in pots indoors in April, like you might do a tomato. In any case, I'd move it and grow it! They are interesting plants! At this point you may actually see the pegs forming late in the season, although you likely will not get any mature peanuts.