There for the Picking

During the early years of my childhood there was not much in my yard that was ripe for the picking. We had a China Berry tree that produced berries and an Oak tree that produced acorns, neither of which were fit to eat. We also had a Mulberry tree that produced berries but I didn't like those either, all the berries did was stain your feet and make a big mess.
Sometime around the age of 10 or 11 my family moved to a house that had several large pecan trees in the yard and like the American pioneers did before me, I picked pecans. I along with my brother and sisters picked more pecans than our family could use so we sold pounds of the pecans to the local pecan buyer.
As a child I never knew just how temperamental a pecan tree can be. They require the right conditions and management if one expects a bountiful harvest. It's not as simple a letting the nuts fall to the ground although that's what I used to think. Pecan trees require deep soil that is well drained and a good bit of rain. The grass under the tree needs to be kept short so the tree can soak up the rain when it comes. The trees are well suited for the Central Texas climate because two thirds of our days each year are accompanied by warm nights, just what a large fruit bearing tree needs. The Pecan tree tolerates stress and insect attacks well but when the trees do die it's usually a combination of factors including poor soil, little or no water, a liking of zinc and nitrogen in the soil and no insect management. I do not remember my Dad paying much attention to any of these factors yet we always had lots of pecans in our yard. Oh I do remember him running the mower under the trees but we did not keep the grass real short and he would use a long cane pole to try to burn or knock the web worm nest from the tree.
Today if I want pecans I buy them already shelled from my local grocery store or find them in a half gallon of Blue Bell ice cream. Every time I come upon a large tree I usually think nothing of it until I get close enough to it to see what kind of tree it is. If it happens to be one of those golden nut bearing trees, my first thought is "Oh my God, that's a Pecan tree". I always scan the ground beneath the tree picking up a few of the nuts because like memories their there for the picking.



These are the pecan trees that produced those golden nuggets I picked and ate as a child. The trees sure have grown since the last time I stood under them. On lots of Fall days I filled large brown paper sacks with their pecans keeping some for Mother to make candy with and hauling the rest to the pecan buyer in downtown Cameron TX.