Texas pecan season.

[worth1]

It's here folks pecan season is upon us.
I have to park in a parking lot that has pecan trees growing in it.
Every morning I get there early.
Been keeping an eye out on the pecans waiting on the husks to open.
Trying to get ahead of the squirrels.
I'm out in the dark gathering pecans now and one guy asked where are you getting them.
You're standing under a pecan tree.
Really?
Yes there are pecan trees and oak trees here.
I didn't know that.

This is very perplexing to hear people these day not even knowing what kind of trees they are under.
Soon I'll have gathered enough of these wee native pecans for a pecan pie.
And plenty left for the squirrels too.

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[karstopography]

Those are big for native pecans. I like to know what kind of trees are around.

[worth1]

Those are big for native pecans. I like to know what kind of trees are around.

Native pecans can be a toss up.
You never know what you will get because pecans don't self pollinate.
These trees were around before the parking lot was around.
I know this for fact because I was there before the parking lot.
It was open range
The whole area in this section of Austin is now covered in concrete and black top.
North 183 and Oak Knoll.
It's the Flex parking lot research park plaza.

[worth1]

In another life I used to work the pecan bottoms in Bend Texas along the Colorado River where my family is from.
Huge trees.
Some 3 maybe 4 feet in diameter.
Today's excursion didn't yield any pecans.
None on the ground or in the trees.
That was in Bastrop at the park.

[karstopography]

I picked pecans as a teenager and sold them in Brazoria. I’d make a little better money per hour picking pecans than a typical teenager job.

The church next to our old house had a few nice native pecan trees out front with good sized nuts. No one ever seemed to pick them so I’d go and get a few, enough for a pie or to toast with a little butter and salt and snack on. I eat them raw also. There’s a place in Glen Flora that sells bags of halves. Really, a lot of their pecans come from New Mexico as I understand things. New Mexico is a commercial pecan production giant these days. We drove through grove after grove on one of our trips up through Loving county. Carsbad, NM or somewhere not too far from there.

One of my buddies dad tried to grow pecans as a sort of side gig, retirement income deal out in the Junction TX area. Seemed like something always ruined any chance of making any money. A late freeze. A hail storm. Some irrigation issues. Low prices. He ended up raising red headed boar goats for the Hispanic market. That was a little more profitable.

[bower]

I have never seen a pecan that didn't come without the shell in a plastic bag, They are very perishable. So good when they're fresh.
I don't think I have ever been in pecan country or seen a pecan tree.
Please love your pecans for me. I can only love em from afar.

[worth1]

I have never seen a pecan that didn't come without the shell in a plastic bag, They are very perishable. So good when they're fresh.
I don't think I have ever been in pecan country or seen a pecan tree.
Please love your pecans for me. I can only love em from afar.

These are small pecans.
In Texas we have them the size of a football.
1/2 pecan makes a whole pie.

Pecans freeze forever.
No need to let them go rancid.

[bower]

Big or small I bet they are all delicious.
I love nuts any kind. I could live on em. Pecans hazelnuts and walnuts should be kept chilled or frozen IMO. Almonds are the only nut that keeps well for a long time in average room temperature conditions.

[worth1]

Big or small I bet they are all delicious.
I love nuts any kind. I could live on em. Pecans hazelnuts and walnuts should be kept chilled or frozen IMO. Almonds are the only nut that keeps well for a long time in average room temperature conditions.

Price per pound they are cheaper than beef and better for you.
I was so poor in the fall of 1989 I lived on pecans onions potatoes and cream of wheat.

[MissS]

Big or small I bet they are all delicious.
I love nuts any kind. I could live on em. Pecans hazelnuts and walnuts should be kept chilled or frozen IMO. Almonds are the only nut that keeps well for a long time in average room temperature conditions.

Price per pound they are cheaper than beef and better for you.
I was so poor in the fall of 1989 I lived on pecans onions potatoes and cream of wheat.

Perhaps they are cheap down there where every yard has them. Up here fresh pecans sell for $15.00 per lb.

[worth1]

Half that price here.
Beef has gone over the top.
Pork belly 5 something a pound.
It has gone up 30%.
Gallon of milk 6 something.
If I could find a white oak covered in good acorns I would gather them.

[MissS]

Half that price here.
Beef has gone over the top.
Pork belly 5 something a pound.
It has gone up 30%.
Gallon of milk 6 something.
If I could find a white oak covered in good acorns I would gather them.

Pork belly $12 something a pound.
Milk $2.29

I live in 'the dairy state'.

[worth1]

Half that price here.
Beef has gone over the top.
Pork belly 5 something a pound.
It has gone up 30%.
Gallon of milk 6 something.
If I could find a white oak covered in good acorns I would gather them.

Pork belly $12 something a pound.
Milk $2.29

I live in 'the dairy state'.

I figured dairy would be cheap up there.
I don't buy fresh milk and buy powdered milk for cooking because it is shelf stable.
I buy cottage cheese butter and cheese for dairy.
It's all the good stuff packed in a small package.
If cheese and butter aren't contaminated it can be left out in a power outage.

[worth1]

Many years ago I was living in Austin.
There was a huge Mahan pecan tree in my front yard.
On a Sunday morning I woke up to a whole pile of people gathering pecans out of my yard.
They were even thrashing the limbs to make the nuts drop.
I had to kindly run them off.
I told them they could have anything in the street but not out of my yard.
The Mahan is a huge paper shell pecan that is about 2 1/2 inches long.

[Texgal]

Back when I was running regularly I would find them at Brushy Creek park. I would just stop and pick up a grocery bag full. It was just me and the squirrels for a while and then I would see occasionally an older person out picking them up. No younger people; they didn’t know what they had. Funny and sad. I grew up on pecans. If I could only choose one food for survival, it would be pecans.

[worth1]

Continuing my quest for pecans.

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[Amateurinawe]

@worth1 bet the squirrels have got a price out on you !

[worth1]

@worth1 bet the squirrels have got a price out on you !

Trust me I'm leaving plenty for them.
The place is crawling with pecan trees.

[karstopography]

@worth1 You picking in Bastrop? I haven’t checked out any of the pecan trees around here yet. I’ve got exactly two tiny native Pecan trees on my lot and the squirrels would get every last one even if they did produce.

[worth1]

@worth1 You picking in Bastrop? I haven’t checked out any of the pecan trees around here yet. I’ve got exactly two tiny native Pecan trees on my lot and the squirrels would get every last one even if they did produce.

Nope the parking lot I park at in Austin to go to work.
These trees are on the tree islands they have in the parking lot.
I just spend about 10 minutes or so in the morning before work and after work picking pecans.
The other really young guy's see me and it is more of setting an example for them as to work ethic.
I am known to bark orders like a Marine drill instructor and cuss people out but yet everyone wants to work under and with me.
So the reward isn't the pecans it is the action of picking pecans to set the example for other people.
In a, 'pardon the pun, "nut shell", lessons in leadership, respect and responsibility.

Does that make any sense?