Peter's Journey

By Brook Jensen
8th Grade, Stanislaus County
Gratton School - Rexann Jensen, Teacher

Peter and his mom, Penny, were both pistachios on a mature pistachio tree on Eco Farm. Bud, the owner of the farm, was a very quiet man who worked very hard. He liked giving his pistachio trees extra fertilizer to make them happy and grow bigger and stronger. Bud was proud to grow his pistachios in California, which was the second largest pistachio producer in the world.

"Peter, are you turning red yet?" asked Peter's mom, Penny, who was very anxious to know. She didn't want to go through the humiliation of having a green son. In fact, all the other pistachios said if he didn't start turning red soon, he probably had a deadly disease that could kill the whole tree! Penny was definitely starting to believe the other pistachios that her son had Verticillium Wilt, which can quickly kill trees of all ages.

"Mom, would you please stop asking me silly questions every morning. If I was turning red I would've told you by now." Peter didn't know why it was so important that he turn red like everyone else. What if he didn't want to be red at all and wanted to stay green forever?

Peter didn't understand that if he didn't turn red before September, which was in one week, it could mean he was a rotten nut. Rotten nuts never made it to the pistachio factory, because Bud threw them away before they could infect any other nuts around them. Everyone who was a pistachio knew that except for Peter, the only pistachio who really needed to know.

That night, Penny broke the "rotten" news to Peter. Peter was devastated; he couldn't believe that all this time instead of growing, he was probably rotting!

The next week everyone was so excited for Peter. His hull had turned red the very day Bud came to begin harvest. Peter just took longer to turn red because of his age. He was the youngest pistachio on the tree, so Peter was actually an early nut.

"Peter, where are you?" asked Penny, "Bud is about to shake the tree. Now I want you to look your best, so let me wipe all the dust off your hull please." Penny wanted to make sure her little boy was the most handsome pistachio in the factory when they got there. "OK, all done. Now I love you, Good Luck!!"

"Mom, it's only shaking. It's not like we're never going to see each other again."

"How do you know Peter? Almost every pistachio gets separated from their family during shaking time. It's pretty much a fact." Peter didn't believe his mom and only thought she was saying that so he would give her a kiss.

Out came Bud and his workers with the tarps. They laid down one long tarp in each row. Then they all got out "shakers," the same kind used on almond trees, and started shaking all the pistachios off the trees and onto the tarps.

By this time Peter could no longer see his mom. He wasn't worried, because she was a very wise pistachio.

Pistachios are harvested on tarps because their hulls and their shells both slip open when they are ready for harvest. If dirt got into the open shell, it could contaminate the pistachio.

When they were finally done shaking, they swept up the nuts and put them in pistachio trucks and hauled them to the pistachio factory.

After the nuts were safely delivered to the factory, they were hulled, washed and dried. Then they were separated into several different groups like salt and pepper, chili lemon, garlic onion, toffee chocolate, and ginger soy pistachios. Peter was separated into "salt and pepper." First he was roasted, and then he was salted and peppered with his shell still on.

After going through many, many other machines that helped pack the pistachios very thoroughly Peter was finally sealed into a plastic bag and then loaded onto a truck. When the truck stopped, it unloaded all of its goods at a store.

Most of the pistachios were taken to a storage room behind the store, because they can stay fresh for several months, and some were put inside on the shelves for people to buy. Suddenly, Peter thought he heard a faint pistachio calling his name.

"Peter I found you!" said Penny with great excitement.

"Mom! Oh, I missed you so much! I can't believe you found me after going through that huge pistachio factory!" Peter said with extreme happiness and amazement.

They were put on a shelf in the store and were soon bought. The whole time he was being carried to his new home, Peter could not help dreaming of how he was going to be eaten.