Saturday, March 28, 2009

March Madness...

Mother Nature is causing quite a few problems around our area. Due to the warm (actually HOT) weather we had for several days straight in March, our pecan trees (particularly the Cheyenne and Pawnee trees) began to bud out early. Now, thanks to Mother Nature's sick sense of humor, we had temps in the low 30s - upper 20s last night (March 27th) with actual snow flurries. Tonight the thermometer is supposed to dip down around 27 or so degrees. All of this is not good for those buds that have already sprung out.

We need some rain but not in the form of snow (at least that is not how we would prefer it). As I have said before, some things in the pecan business are out of our control. We do our best but we cannot control the weather.

Of course we could be having all the troubles they are having up North with waters hitting 43 feet and still counting last time I checked. I would pray for those people first but please keep our little problem in your thoughts as well.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Pruning Time...

The orchard is buzzing...and I literally mean buzzing...with the sounds of chainsaws as it is time to prune and hedge the trees. The reason for pruning and hedging is to maintain the tree's size and to prevent overcrowding.

Due to the fact that Tim's main goal is to produce about the same pounds of pecans each year off his trees, he wants to keep the tree from getting too big and thus overproducing the next year. ***It is important to state here that although Tim, Jake, and all those that work out at the orchards follow orchard management practices to ensure crop production, this type of work has factors beyond human control. Mother Nature is constantly providing too little (or on rare occasions...too much) rain, sending late or early freezes, blowing in high winds, or pelting the area with hail...all of which is not good!***

Pruning and hedging also keeps the orchard from becoming overcrowded as a whole. When it comes time for pecans to begin to develop and grow they need lots of sunlight. With pruning and hedging this allows more sunlight to be able to filter in throughout the trees and all the way down to the orchard floor.

The picture I have posted along with this information is of one of the guys up in the Pruning Tower cutting off the tops of the trees. This must be done to every tree...all 8000+ of them. Then the guys have to come along and pick up all the branches and haul them off to make sure the orchard floor will be clean and clear for future work to be done.

I am just glad I run the store and do not have to drive the Pruning Tower. I am terrified of heights!!!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

And the February Winner is...

...Brenda Terry. Congratulations Brenda! You are the winner of a large heart filled with Chocolate Pecan Fudge! The March drawing is already underway. This month the prize is 8 pieces of free fudge. If you are the lucky winner you can get all 8 pieces of the same fudge flavor or 8 different flavors...your choice!

We have new fudge flavors for March too! Key Lime, Cookie Dough, Maple, Maple Nut, and Tiger Fudge. Yummy! Of course we still have all our most popular flavors like Chocolate Pecan, Butter Pecan, Peanut Butter, Vanilla Caramel Swirl, and Sugar Free just to name a few.

Again, congratulations Brenda! We hope you enjoy the fudge!