The Pecans are In!

My elderly neighbor Chubby told that our neighborhood used to be a pecan orchard. She said house 2 doors down from me (and next door to her) was the original farmhouse for the orchard -- cool! It used to have wood siding and in later years it was bricked over. Christy and Carlos live there now -- (remember the snake wrangling story? That was their 6 year old daughter who is the snake wrangler!)

Anyway, I am new to having pecan trees IN my yard. They are old (presumably 80+ years) and beautiful. They are a constant source of sticks for me to throw for Greta, and their very abundant leaves are great for my compost barrel and for mulch for the lawn. And that's not even talking about the pecans they are dropping everywhere! Note to self: If you are walking in the grass without shoes, beware! It's like walking on marbles! And backing out of the driveway, the pecans under the car tires sound like a gun fight...

Anyway, my neighbors in the know tell me that the pecans are "in" e.g. they are down on the ground and ready for pick up and eating. I'm told this will continue for quite some time. Awesome! (I think...ask me again after pecan season is over.) I see lots of folks walking dogs with plastic grocery bags to put pecans in, and lots of folks in the park picking them up.

Sunday I took care of the front lawn and Tom came over before the Cowboys game and decided to try out my Nut Wizard (http://www.nutwizard.com/) for picking up the pecans. Sort of like vacuuming... Deluxe! He got nearly a 5 gallon bucket full of pecans! Then he took them indoors and cracked the exterior shell off of them, and here's the beautiful result. (Thanks for the great bowl, Kelly!)

It appears I will need to procure and nut cracker and a set of picks. I think my dad will love to sit on my porch and crack pecans! I am not a fan of pecan pie... or of pralines, so I am not exactly sure what I am going to do with them all. Do you want any?

As a side note, my neighbor Lynne has found a chestnut tree by the park! She showed me some chestnuts she picked up -- they looked perfectly polished and just beautiful! Maybe we'll try roasting some at Christmas... [sing it with me...]