Fall Bounty on the Farm

We've had this property for two years now...  Spring of 2018 we really didn't explore the land as our time was spent on the house demo. That Fall we saw a TON of nuts on our property but just didn't have the wherewithal to focus on what that really meant.  

Spring of 2019, we found one Mulberry tree and a blackberry bush.  That Fall I decided to collect the nuts and see if they were viable.  Pappy, our old neighbor across the street, saw me with a bag in hand and pointed out that I was going to be disappointed.  He cracked open a pecan and showed me how it was bad.  He mumbled something about fertilizing and I made a mental note to look into it this year.  The pecans I brought to our old house WERE bad.  I left the black walnuts outside to dry and they were demolished by the local squirrel population.  Obviously THEY were good but I ran out of time and let the squirrels eat what I brought to Suwanee.  

Flash forward to this Spring - we realized we actually have THREE mulberry trees.  None of know how we missed the other two.  Since early Fall I've been watching a multitude of black walnuts fall off the trees and have kicked what I could into the cut.  I needed to not trip over them walking the dogs, and I didn't have time to figure out if they could be truly harvested.  When the pecans started falling I figured I was looking at nothing because of what Pappy had said the year before... until my friend Sandra came to visit and was thrilled to see them on the ground.  I told her they were bad and she proved Pappy wrong.  She broke open a beautiful pecan and that began the last two weeks of me wandering the property looking for fallen nuts.  I am a woman on a mission.

Now mind you, since Sandra had picked up one of these lovely green husked beauties, I reasoned that the darkened husk nuts were bad which must have been why Pappy had been able break one and show me a rotten shell.  I spent two days picking up only green husked pecans, cutting the husks off of them and laying them on sheets to dry.  My hands were stained the color of pecans for days.  When Bill and I went to crack them, we had about a 50% yield of good meat.  I kept going outside daily looking for more.

One day I noticed a pecan sitting on the ground without it's husk.  I pick it up for shits and giggles and feel the heft of a good nut.  (Yes, in the past two weeks I HAVE become a darn expert on pecan weight).  I'm thinking maybe the squirrels have done the job for me.  I start reaching for others... all feel heavy with meat.  It takes me a few days to think maybe I should google "harvesting pecans"... there's obviously something I'm missing.  After all, I'm a California girl who is learning these southern ways...  I did it this afternoon.  Right in front of me is what I've come to believe I didn't understand from the start.  The bloody husks dry off ON the tree.  Pecans SHOULD be falling down around my feet sans husks.  I'm not taking the squirrels hard work away.  They are ripe and they fall.  I haven't really LOOKED at my tree - they're WAYYYYY up there in the sky.  I just assumed that everything I was looking up there were green husked pecans waiting to fall at during the next storm.

I looked up today ladies and gentlemen and I saw the husks peeling away.  I shook my head as I finally saw the complete picture.  It was right there in front of me all along.  Some of the green husks that fall to the ground will be viable, but a lot of them are falling before they're ready and will not continue to grow.  I'm ok with this.  I'm getting PLENTY of nuts.  I did, however, find mention of pecans not yielding if there are low levels of critical soil nutrients (nitrogen, zinc, iron and manganese)... so Pappy MAY have had something going there.  Next Spring I'll get a soil sample near the tree to see if there is anything more I need to do.  I want to keep this large baby happy for years to come.

For now though, did I mention we are harvesting a large bowl of nuts daily.  This is today's load.  During my google search I found that there are pecan picker upper gadgets that you can push like a mop over the grass to grab the pecans without bending over.  I'm torn between wanting that gadget desperately and feeling like it'll take away from the thrill of the hunt.  I kinda enjoy walking around the yard looking for the elusive nut like I'd look for a four leaf clover.

Now before everyone starts lining up at my front door looking for nut hand outs, I've got to see what my actual yield is this year.  I plan on making my Jack Daniels Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie and some Pralines... if I have more nuts than I can use I'll know what I can share with friends in the future.  This year, I'm being greedy.  I have to.  Because the other thing I read about nuts is that crows love them.  It's true in this house hold.  I should know, I live with the biggest nutty Crow there is.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all.