Turns out all the fun Dalita and I have had creating pecan "addicts" this year was just in time to celebrate Pecan Month! The pecan pies that will be made from the pecans picked up will be another way to celebrate Pecan Month. By the way, Dalita makes a really scrumptious, yummy, to die for pecan pie. Once I tasted my slice I almost didn't share it with my husband but good manners finally prevailed.
It is even more fun to listen to Denise grumble about how much time she spends picking them up and how side tracked she gets. I have to agree...it is easy to get side tracked and some days I have to tell myself I can only pick up the pecans in my direct path on a direct route from the Jeep to the gate of the garden. No wandering allowed!
My parents first took me pecan "picking" when I was 7 or 8 years old. Parts of the campus at Florida State University were built in an old pecan grove and in the late 60's there were still lots of pecan trees everywhere. Which meant there were plenty of nuts available for anyone who wanted to spend the time picking them up.
It was certainly worth spending the time because you get high quality nuts without spending any money. Luckily my grandfather gave us a really wonderful nut cracker which made the job of cracking so much easier. The little two handle nut crackers you buy in the grocery store just aren't up to the job when you have a 100 lbs or more of nuts to shell.
If you google "inertia pecan cracker" you'll find pictures and links. The one we had used a rubber band to power it. In fact I call it a pecan smacker because that was what it did...smacked the pecan and cracked the shell. Another kind of pecan cracker involves a handle you pull down which is the kind Cobb Hardware carries.
Locally you can find a heavy duty pecan cracker at Cobb Hardware on Roswell Road just off the Square in Marietta. Call (770-428-6491) before you go if you are interested because they sell out frequently at this time of the year. They also sell the slinky kind of pecan picker uppers too. Not like mine or the one Denise has but a different kind.
So here are some interesting pecan factoids that I've learned:
- Firstly, a pecan is not truly a nut! It is a drupe. What is a drupe - a fruit with a single stone or pit surrounded by a husk. The pecan "nut" we pick up off the ground is the stone/pit.
- Pecan trees may live and bear edible fruit for more than 300 years.
- Just like blueberries, you have to plant trees from different cultivars to get pollination and fruit set.
- Texas made the pecan tree its state tree in 1919.
- Albany is the Pecan Capital of the United States and Georgia produces the most pecans in the United States with Texas 2nd in production.
- There are over 1,000 cultivars of pecans (not including all the wild pecans).
- Commercial growing of pecans didn't begin until the 1880's.
- The U.S. produces 80 percent of the world's pecan crop.
Pecan Growers Association - history and recipes for pecans
If you want to try growing pecan trees at home, the University of Georgia has a free publication available.
Pecan Trees for the Home or Backyard Orchard - B1248
Lastly, as a word of warning - never, ever stop on the side of the road and pick up pecans while driving through or near a commercial pecan orchard/grove. You will be arrested and sent to jail. Depending on the amount of pecans picked up, it can even be a felony offense. In fact, you probably shouldn't stop near a private orchard either.
For free pecan trees...just wait until spring and they will be coming up in the beds! The squirrels have been busy planting them left and right.
Vicki
