by Robert P. Herbst

Created on: February 13, 2007   Last Updated: May 04, 2007

The Mount Perry Peanut Tree

It's a hot day here in the middle of Mount Perry, Florida. But I am content sitting here in the shade of a Mount Perry Peanut Tree, looking up at the cool, snow covered peak of our beloved Mount Perry.
It's interesting to note the Mount Perry Peanut Tree originated right here in Mount Perry, Florida. Frankly, it was the result of a genetic mistake. It was an offshoot of attempts made by our very own, world famous, genetics expert, Dr. Gene Splicer, to create a pine apple tree by splicing the genes of a pine tree with an apple tree. These experiments were a dismal failure.

Somehow, during his experimentation, he dropped his peanut butter and jelly sandwich into the automatic gene splicer. The seeds which came out of the machine grow the, now world famous, Mount Perry Peanut Tree. As always, sometimes the best results of any experiment happen quite by accident.
Although this genetic mutation was created quite by accident, Dr. Splicer is always happy to take all the credit for it. He points to his creation with great pride and states, "You mean, - I did this?"
The tree grows about twenty feet in height and is broadly branched with lots of healthy looking, dark green leaves. This makes the tree not only a commercially viable orchard tree, but it also functions as a landscape shade tree.
It seems to do well in just about any soil, with a minimum of fertilization. It should be noted however, if fruit is desired, a minimum of two trees must be planted within about fifteen feet of each other to facilitate pollination, but not closer than ten feet. It wouldn't do to crowd these beauties.
Along about spring time, when the first leaves and flowers appear on the tree, the peanut crop begins to form in large clusters on the ends of the branches. Oddly enough, honey harvested from the bees which pollinate the mount perry peanut tree has a distinct peanut butter and jelly flavor. It can readily be substituted on sandwiches given to little children, who have never seen or tasted the real thing.
The fruits mature and ripen about mid summer. They should be picked promptly to encourage the emergence of the secondary crop. The peanuts should be promptly roasted and ground up to make our world famous Mount Perry Peanut Butter. Like serving Guava Jelly with Hushpuppies, Mount Perry, Florida is one of the few places in the United States which has great quantities of Mount Perry Peanut Butter on every table in every restaurant.
Here my lovely wife Lyudmila

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