Pecans....

[kadee79]

If you are going to use any for baking this fall/winter...now would be good time to buy them before the prices start going up. I priced some at Costco last Wed. & they were $10 for 24 oz., so basically $5 lb....which is about $2 a lb. cheaper than they were a couple years ago. Anyway, the crop isn't looking so good this year, so later prices will go up....

For some folks, pulling a hot pecan pie out of the oven is a favorite fall tradition, but this year, you might pay a little more for the nuts that Georgia is known for.

Georgia pecan growers producing fewer nuts this year
There are a couple of factors affecting the crop.

Tis the season for the sound of shaking trees to ring out in the pecan orchards.  The shaking of the trees to get the nuts to fall is the first step in the harvesting process. (yes, they really shake them with a machine.)

"I began working on the farm when I was 6. I think my mother just wanted to get me out of the house," said Al Pearson. Pearson's favorite place is still in the field.

October and November are like tax time for an accountant in these parts, and this year, Pearson says the bottom line will look different because there aren't as many nuts hanging on the trees.  "Of what we would consider a normal crop, we may be 60 to 70 percent of that this year," Pearson said.  "Last year was a huge crop. We're normally around 100 million pounds. Last year, we were at 140-130. We're looking like we're going to be at 60-80 million pounds," said Jeff Cook.

www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/georgia-pecan-growers-producing-fewer-nuts-this-year/ar-AAPQxZP?ocid=hplocalnews

[busymom]

I don't know what they call a pecan farm (orchard?), but they ARE beautiful to drive past.  Neat rows of perfectly spaced trees.  Do they ever allow people to harvest their own, like they do here in apple orchards?


Sorry to hear prices are going up.  It was a dry season here for farmers, so some parts of the state did not do well at all.  Waiting to see how that affects corn & soybean prices.

[kadee79]

Generally, they are pecan GROVES.  
No you aren't allowed to go onto a property to gather any yourself unless you have permission & no place I know of allows anyone to do that.  Some individuals will allow folks to gather them or it can be a free-for-all along the roads where the trees drop nuts into the ditches.  
Many people will gather them from places like that & sell them.  In a good year, you can get 0.90 lb. for them & in a bad year as little as 0.35 lb.  For some folks, that is their Christmas money or the property tax money.  The price you get also depends on the variety of nut and how good the nut meats are in the shells.
You can also get nuts "cracked" for about 0.35 lb. and you get to pick out the pieces for your own use.  I do that if I'm able to pick up a lot of them, like at BIL's house...and maybe even our own this year.  A full size grocery bag full of cracked nuts will normally yield about 2-3 gallon of nut pieces for use.  Some will be halves, but most will just be pieces.

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

… and peanuts are what I must get.
If I keep repeating it I won't forget.
Pecans and peanuts and pecans and peanuts...

Animal Supermarket childrens album from the 60s.

this is all I can remember

[buystoys]

I'm fortunate in that regard.  We have 2 1/2 pecan trees on our property.  I have enough pecans in the freezer to last me for years.

[kadee79]

Oct 23, 2021 2:30:15 GMT -5 Cheesy FL-Vol said:

… and peanuts are what I must get.
If I keep repeating it I won't forget.
Pecans and peanuts and pecans and peanuts...

Animal Supermarket childrens album from the 60s.

this is all I can remember

They are just starting to combine the peanuts around here.  Saw my first trailer loads headed to the market yesterday while I was coming home.

[NoNamePerson]

We have lots of pecan groves here. I get mine from a produce stand here that owns a pecan grove across the road! My DIL's sister bakes pecan pies for everyone at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I always buy plenty and just tell her I have too many for just me so she needs to take them off my hands!! I do keep some for myself though since I love nuts - the kind on trees and a few two legged ones  

[kadee79]

I do pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and pecan pie for Christmas.  But my chocolate chip cookies have walnuts in them...and so do brownies.  Tx. sheet cake icing has pecans.  I make a brittle that has pecans too.

It's really hard to type with bandaids on your little finger.

[Tennesseer]

Oct 22, 2021 21:56:46 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

Generally, they are pecan GROVES.  
No you aren't allowed to go onto a property to gather any yourself unless you have permission & no place I know of allows anyone to do that.  Some individuals will allow folks to gather them or it can be a free-for-all along the roads where the trees drop nuts into the ditches.  
Many people will gather them from places like that & sell them.  In a good year, you can get 0.90 lb. for them & in a bad year as little as 0.35 lb.  For some folks, that is their Christmas money or the property tax money.  The price you get also depends on the variety of nut and how good the nut meats are in the shells.
You can also get nuts "cracked" for about 0.35 lb. and you get to pick out the pieces for your own use.  I do that if I'm able to pick up a lot of them, like at BIL's house...and maybe even our own this year.  A full size grocery bag full of cracked nuts will normally yield about 2-3 gallon of nut pieces for use.  Some will be halves, but most will just be pieces.

A copse of pecans. (I like the word 'copse'.)

[Artemis Windsong]

The best gift from my late MIL was shelled pecans. We went to one of my H's cousin's house. We were gifted with a big bag of shelled pecans. This was years ago but great memories.

[Deleted]

We have a pecan tree in our back yard. Last fall when we had it trimmed, I asked one of the arborists we got quotes from, why it didn’t produce many pecans like it did the fall before.

He explained how since it was the only pecan tree, something was different than it would’ve been if there was another (gender?! That was my understanding of what he said, please don’t flame me) tree in close proximity. 

What it’s been dropping on the deck lately, is not ripe pecans. Maybe it’s not time yet? Idk. But my DGD likes gathering them and opening them, even though we keep explaining they are not the kind we can eat. She still insists on opening every one that she can find on the deck. I don’t care, as long as she understands she can’t eat them.

It would make me really happy if our tree would shower us with pecans that she can crack open and eat if she wants, just because she’s interested in them.

[weltschmerz]

I've never had pecan pie. It sounds really, really sweet.

[stillmovingforward]

It's dreadfully sweet! My DH loves it. Me, not so much.

[NoNamePerson]

Oct 23, 2021 17:02:25 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

I do pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and pecan pie for Christmas.  But my chocolate chip cookies have walnuts in them...and so do brownies.  Tx. sheet cake icing has pecans.  I make a brittle that has pecans too.

It's really hard to type with bandaids on your little finger.

Pecans and walnuts are my favorites! I don’t even think about price of walnut I use so many! 

[kadee79]

Oct 23, 2021 18:13:08 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

We have a pecan tree in our back yard. Last fall when we had it trimmed, I asked one of the arborists we got quotes from, why it didn’t produce many pecans like it did the fall before.

He explained how since it was the only pecan tree, something was different than it would’ve been if there was another (gender?! That was my understanding of what he said, please don’t flame me) tree in close proximity. 

What it’s been dropping on the deck lately, is not ripe pecans. Maybe it’s not time yet? Idk. But my DGD likes gathering them and opening them, even though we keep explaining they are not the kind we can eat. She still insists on opening every one that she can find on the deck. I don’t care, as long as she understands she can’t eat them.

It would make me really happy if our tree would shower us with pecans that she can crack open and eat if she wants, just because she’s interested in them.

Why can't you eat the nuts from your tree?  I've never heard of that.  And a poor crop could be due to not having another tree close by for pollination just like many other things.  

[Deleted]

Oct 23, 2021 21:22:02 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

Oct 23, 2021 18:13:08 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

We have a pecan tree in our back yard. Last fall when we had it trimmed, I asked one of the arborists we got quotes from, why it didn’t produce many pecans like it did the fall before.

He explained how since it was the only pecan tree, something was different than it would’ve been if there was another (gender?! That was my understanding of what he said, please don’t flame me) tree in close proximity. 

What it’s been dropping on the deck lately, is not ripe pecans. Maybe it’s not time yet? Idk. But my DGD likes gathering them and opening them, even though we keep explaining they are not the kind we can eat. She still insists on opening every one that she can find on the deck. I don’t care, as long as she understands she can’t eat them.

It would make me really happy if our tree would shower us with pecans that she can crack open and eat if she wants, just because she’s interested in them.

Why can't you eat the nuts from your tree?  I've never heard of that.  And a poor crop could be due to not having another tree close by for pollination just like many other things.  

The ones that have fallen on the deck so far this year (that DGD opens, just for fun) are not ready. They still have the outer shell on them. That is why I tell her they aren’t ready to be eaten.

Our first fall here, we had ripe, edible pecans everywhere. Last fall, we didn’t. When I asked one of the arborists about it, the explanation was pretty much what you said about not having another tree close by for pollination. Which, we do not have, so it makes sense.

If we get edible ones this year, it would make me happy for DGD to crack them open and eat them if she wants to. If it happens like that, it will be an opportunity to share with her the wonders of nature and how it can provide so many of our basic needs. 

But anyway, that’s why I tell her she can’t eat the pecans from the tree right now. 

[kadee79]

PC, they just need the hulls removed and then let them dry out before cracking them.  The nut meats will dry some once that hull is off and they should be fine for eating.  If the tree produces nuts, they should be good to eat no matter if you know there is another tree close or not.  Some times the wind or the birds will pollenate for us.

[Value Buy]

Oct 22, 2021 21:56:46 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

Generally, they are pecan GROVES.  
No you aren't allowed to go onto a property to gather any yourself unless you have permission & no place I know of allows anyone to do that.  Some individuals will allow folks to gather them or it can be a free-for-all along the roads where the trees drop nuts into the ditches.  
Many people will gather them from places like that & sell them.  In a good year, you can get 0.90 lb. for them & in a bad year as little as 0.35 lb.  For some folks, that is their Christmas money or the property tax money.  The price you get also depends on the variety of nut and how good the nut meats are in the shells.
You can also get nuts "cracked" for about 0.35 lb. and you get to pick out the pieces for your own use.  I do that if I'm able to pick up a lot of them, like at BIL's house...and maybe even our own this year.  A full size grocery bag full of cracked nuts will normally yield about 2-3 gallon of nut pieces for use.  Some will be halves, but most will just be pieces.

Driving on I 75 on the east side of the interstate they literally hve a campground in the Pecan grove. I chuckle at it everyime I see it and wonder whether the campground is closed during harvest time.
We stop at the Adcock pecan sales store in Georgia on our way down to Florida as well as on our way back  north in the spring.
We believe the fall season they are still selling old crop, and in the spring, the newer crop. Regardless, we snack on one bag going south and another going back north. It is like eating candy. We will never buy pecans processed bagged pecans for baking in any store again. We are hooked on their apricot preserves too, although I do not think they make it.
I find this a better stop than stopping at Jim Beam or Jack Daniels
Still like the Corvette museum in Kentucky. Takes us forever to get back north.........

[kadee79]

Adcock is in Tifton, Ga. just of I-75 so yes, an easy target for tourists.  They are high priced!  If you happen to see a sign where it says they sell & crack pecans, stop there.  Those will be fresh pecans & most likely the prices will be cheaper too.

Those camp grounds in pecan groves...most let the residents pick them up for their own use.  Some of the groves are so old that the trees don't produce near as many as years ago.  

[stillmovingforward]

I've learned way more about pecans than I ever thought possible. I need to look for some if I'm on the east side.

[busymom]

We like to stop at Big Rosie's stand off of I-75 by Valdosta, GA.  He is SO much fun to talk to.  He sells some honey covered, praline-type pecans that taste SO good.  


Darn it, now I want to do a road trip...  

[Value Buy]

Nov 1, 2021 5:34:57 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Oct 22, 2021 21:56:46 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

Generally, they are pecan GROVES.  
No you aren't allowed to go onto a property to gather any yourself unless you have permission & no place I know of allows anyone to do that.  Some individuals will allow folks to gather them or it can be a free-for-all along the roads where the trees drop nuts into the ditches.  
Many people will gather them from places like that & sell them.  In a good year, you can get 0.90 lb. for them & in a bad year as little as 0.35 lb.  For some folks, that is their Christmas money or the property tax money.  The price you get also depends on the variety of nut and how good the nut meats are in the shells.
You can also get nuts "cracked" for about 0.35 lb. and you get to pick out the pieces for your own use.  I do that if I'm able to pick up a lot of them, like at BIL's house...and maybe even our own this year.  A full size grocery bag full of cracked nuts will normally yield about 2-3 gallon of nut pieces for use.  Some will be halves, but most will just be pieces.

Driving on I 75 on the east side of the interstate they literally hve a campground in the Pecan grove. I chuckle at it everyime I see it and wonder whether the campground is closed during harvest time.
We stop at the Adcock pecan sales store in Georgia on our way down to Florida as well as on our way back  north in the spring.
We believe the fall season they are still selling old crop, and in the spring, the newer crop. Regardless, we snack on one bag going south and another going back north. It is like eating candy. We will never buy pecans processed bagged pecans for baking in any store again. We are hooked on their apricot preserves too, although I do not think they make it.
I find this a better stop than stopping at Jim Beam or Jack Daniels
Still like the Corvette museum in Kentucky. Takes us forever to get back north.........

You may think they are high priced, but compared to the price of pecans in grocery stores up north, the pkgs are about $3 per bag cheaper