Pecan nuts

I do feel so virtuous – for a change!

These are a couple of nuts growing on our pecan tree. Paladian has been on at me for years to take the tree out. “But no”, I said. “One day we will have some nuts.”

She said: “No we won’t. It needs deep rich soils with plenty of water, and that’s what we don’t have. It’s on clay, and you may not have noticed but we have very dry hot summers.”

“Let’s just wait and see”, I said.

Greener nuts.

So we have waited and seen, and lo and behold, we have 12 nuts on the tree, discovered an hour ago today. The first crop ever. After an agonising 6 years of waiting and hoping.

(But I have to admit Paladian has watered and fed it religiously – just in case!)

Several years ago we visited the Stahmanns Pecan Farm where millions of pecans are grown and shelled on their 3200 acre farm in Southern New Mexico, USA.

The first Stahmann generation began growing pecans in the fertile Mesilla Valley, NM along the Rio Grande in 1932. You can check out this massive pecan plantation at the above link, as 3200 acres of pecan trees is very hard to comprehend!