Nuts About FFA - And One Proud Momma

Just a few days before America celebrated Independence Day, I was down in Fort Worth Texas celebrating my daughter, Dotty, as she received her Lonestar FFA Degree at the Texas FFA State Convention.  I may not have been wearing red, white and blue, but my heart was bursting like a Rushing's Pyrotechnics fireworks finale! I was one very proud momma!

While I grew up in an ag family and now work in the industry at the Pecan Shed, I didn't experience FFA firsthand.  So Dotty's FFA journey has been a whole new world for me.  And what a ride it's been!

Her freshman year, she enrolled in her first ag class and jumped into LDEs (Leadership Development Events).  I called her Official Dress a costume (oops) and got lovingly corrected...it's OD, thank you very much!  That spring she told me her bunnies were now officially part of her SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience).  Later, she started preparing for a CDE (Career Development Event) in entomology - yes bugs!  Her Papa kept asking if the pecan weevil was on any of the tests...sadly it was not. She wrapped up the year by writing a speech on the pecan industry for her SDE (Speaking Development Event) and she even ran for chapter office.  

I had a front row seat to a year that was exciting, confusing, rewarding, hard, hilarious, and absolutely packed with acronyms I still get mixed up.  But I wouldn't trade it for anything.  The miles, the early mornings, the late nights...they were all worth it for the banners, buckles, and memories...and especially the community we found in blue and gold.  

From there, she went all in.  Dotty added goats to her SAE and launched a fundraiser she calls "Nuts About FFA" selling our family's pecans to local chapters to use as a fall fundraiser for their school FFA program.  She has been a State Qualifier in LDE, SDE, and CDE events...placing in the top 10 in Texas twice.  She's served as her chapter's Vice President and now enters her second year as Chapter President.  She's also a former District Officer and currently serves as the First Vice President for Area Officers.  

Now a senior, Dotty shows no signs of slowing down.  Her love for FFA and the people who make it so special has inspired her to pursue a degree in Ag Communications.  Her dream is to spend her life "Agvocating for Agriculture" and the values it represents. 

And what a blessing it's been to watch the village surround her.  Incredible ag teachers, mentors, and folks from our community have poured into Dotty with wisdom, encouragement, and and their most precious asset...time.  I don't know exactly what her future holds, but I know Who holds it and I know FFA has shaped her heart, her character, and her calling.

Dotty has often said that FFA is her happy place...and I believe her.  Watching her grow in leadership and purpose has changed me too.  I believe in the future of agriculture and I believe in our future...period.  It's in good hands. 

At the Pecan Shed we believe in strong roots and we've seen firsthand how FFA helps grow the next generation of agricultural leaders.  We couldn't be more proud to support the young men and women who are living out the FFA motto every day:

Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.

Why Rainy Days Are a Blessing for Pecan Farmers

Puddles aren't something we usually see around Texas in late June...but when they do show up, they are a welcomed sight at the Pecan Shed.

The recent rains have done more than just cool things off.  They have brought a much needed boost to our pecan orchards right when our trees are hard at work growing this year's crop.  Mature pecan trees need about two inches of water each week during the hot summer months of June through August.  This consistent moisture keeps the trees healthy, reduces stress, and...most importantly...helps the pecans develop full, flavorful kernels.

Because let's be honest, no one wants a shriveled or dried out pecan in their holiday pies or snack bowls. Full, plump pecan meats start with good hydration.  

When rain is not an option we rely on irrigation to get the job done.  But irrigation isn't cheap.  Between the high electricity costs of running the system and the hours our team spends checking and making repairs to it, the price adds up quickly.  So when the skies open up and give us some rain, it's not just good for the trees...it's good for the whole operation.

Sure, rainy days might slow down outdoor plans, get our trucks a little muddy, and stir up a few extra thousand or so mosquitoes.  But to us, the sound of rain on the roof is the sound of provision.  It's the sound of God watering the land.  It means stronger trees, better pecans, and a healthier harvest to share with all of you.

So from all of us here at the Pecan Shed, thank you for celebrating the rain with us!  It truly is a blessing in every drop!  

Quality Matters

 

Earlier this week while I was shopping at a local grocery store, I noticed a display with pecans in it.  I will be honest, at first I thought they were roasted or toasted.

Sadly, they were not.  

They were labeled as "Jr. Mammoth Halves" which means they are plain pecans...no seasoning...no baking...just raw pecans.  (Jr. Mammoth is a size qualification used in the pecan industry.)

 I decided to buy a few ounces to show the comparison between those grocery store pecans and ours.  

Pecan Shed Pawnee Halves are on the left and the grocery store pecans are on the right.  

Our Pawnee Halves are also classified as Jr. Mammoth Halves based on their size.  The Pawnee pecan is a variety within that category of pecans. 

I am sure you can see the difference and no doubt you can almost taste the difference from this picture as well!

Natural pecan halves, if stored properly, should be "golden" in color year round.  Proper storage also ensures the pecans will retain their fresh quality and flavor.  

Our pecans are harvest October through February each year.  During these cooler months, newly harvested pecans can be stored at room temperature.  However, when our part of Texas starts to heat up in mid to late March, we begin keeping all our pecans in refrigerated commercial coolers.  In the retail stores, we only bring out a few bags to keep on our shelves at a time and the rest stay refrigerated until we need to restock.  If we still have pecans left over when the next harvest begins, we will freeze those pecans (but often we run out close to the end of September).  

While I am not certain where the grocery store pecans came from, many grocery stores and big box stores buy pecans from large shelling companies.  These facilities can have up to two years worth of pecans in stock.  So pecans you might be buying today could potentially already be two years old.  And many retailers don't keep the stock refrigerated once they arrive at their facilities, which is why the pecans turn darker in color and begin to lose their fresh taste.

This time of year, even in your own home, if you don't plan to use the pecans within a day or two of your purchase it is best to keep them refrigerated or you can always freeze them.  Pecans can be stored in airtight containers and frozen for up to 2 years (although my mom has kept them much longer than that!)  They key is the airtight container.  Pecans do absorb odors, thus if the container is not airtight pecans can taste like freezer burn. 

Another way we at the Pecan Shed try to ensure our pecans retain their quality, is to only ship pecans Monday through Wednesday during the warmer days of the year.  We don't want our pecans to be in transit too long while temperatures are high.  And remember, when you get them, it is best to either consume the pecans or store them in the refrigerator or freezer.  Don't leave them in your car, on your counter or in your cabinets! Pecans are a perishable food item.     

Here are the general rules for storing pecans...

Happy Father's Day 2025

 Father's Day 2025

Happy Father's Day to all the dads and dad-like guys out there!!!

And big hugs for my own dad, Tim Montz, and my brother, Jake Montz.

These two guys work together daily in Charlie, TX where our pecan orchards are primarily located.  Thanks to them we have the yummy pecans we sell year round in our stores and online!  They know how to grow great pecans and great kids (and of course I am totally biased!

Our family opened the Pecan Shed in 1981.  A few years later we began planting our "Home Orchard" around our house.  Now, almost 40 years later, Dad and Jake are still planting trees in the Charlie, TX area!  Currently, we have over 25,000 trees on  roughly 1,000 acres...with more planned for the future!  

Working in a family agriculture business it is inevitable that some literal and metaphorical storms will blow up from time to time.  Our family has endured tornadoes, freezes, droughts, pest infestation, wild hog invasions, market crashes, and more than one occasion where we didn't see eye to eye on the best way to move forward.  But we weathered them all...and are better for it! 

Tim and Jake have both served as President of the Texas Pecan Growers Association and both have traveled internationally promoting pecans in efforts to open up foreign markets.  These two have served on many other state and national boards and are definitely considered to be leaders in their field.  They have won numerous awards over the years and I am so proud of the work they do not only for our family business but for the pecan industry as a whole. 

Dad is inching his way slowly to retirement (although he is of the generation that will never fully retire...and that is quite okay with us!)  He loves to travel and fish any day he can!  Jake is decades away from retirement!  He and I have lots of plans for the future of this business and we are still young at heart (even if our backs are not what they used to be!)  Jake is the proud dad of three beautiful girls and they keep him on his toes and very busy when he is not on a tractor!

To say I am blessed with the best is an understatement!  These two guys right here might drive me nuts on occasion but when you are in the pecan business it is fairly standard practice.  

From our family to yours we hope you all have a blessed Father's Day Weekend!  

And may the love of our Heavenly Father be with you always!   

Mother Nature Has an Attitude...

Just after we survived a spring freeze a few weeks ago, last weekend our trees were being whipped by 20+ mph winds.  We barely had time to check all the orchards for possible limb loss before the forecasters were saying possible hail is now headed our way.

Mother Nature seems to have a bad attitude lately!

Farming is not for the faint of heart.  You have to have big shoulders to carry the worries of things beyond your control and you have to have tough knees to constantly be in prayer to God for Him to watch over your entire livelihood.

And it isn't just pecan farmers.  Everyone in the farming industry faces similar challenges on a daily basis.  We are all at the mercy of things we simply have no control over.  Most farmers I know put in well over 40 hours per week only to at times see all their hard work destroyed in the minutes and hours it takes a single storm to sweep through their area.

But when the storm has passed, these men and women who have dedicated their lives to growing crops for the world to eat do what they know to do.  They work.  And they work hard.  Sometimes to salvage what is left.  Sometimes to start again.  And sometimes to merely clean up the aftermath so the next crop might stand a chance.  

Farming is not like other industries.  We can't just crank up the motor on the factory to produce more of a crop.  We can't add night shifts and weekend shifts to increase productivity.

We plant the seeds.  We water.  We cultivate.  We wait.  And we pray.  And when the time comes we harvest all we can of what we have grown.

And then we do it all again the next season.

For some of us, like pecan farmers, we only get one harvest a year.  If that harvest is destroyed by a freeze or a hail storm or bugs or some other type of natural disaster then we are finished for the year. There is no replanting.  There is no other crop.  It is only the one and done.

So tonight as you park your car inside the garage and while you are bringing in the delicate flowers and the breakable porch decorations please say a prayer for the farmers who are sitting by the window...watching the skies and their weather apps...and praying for God to have mercy on their fields and future.  

Hello Again...

Hey Folks,

It has been a while since I last blogged but I am making it my goal to revive it!  We post a lot of product pictures on Facebook...

(https://www.facebook.com/pecanshed/  AND https://www.facebook.com/PecanShedHenrietta/)

...but this gives me an opportunity to tell you a few more details about the nutty stuff that goes on at the Pecan Shed and out in the orchards.  So I hope you enjoy!

It is hard to believe February has already come to an end.  It feels like just last week we were preparing for Strawbageddon or as some of you loving refer to it...Valentine's Day!  We broke a record this year dipping a few hundred dozen Fudge Dipped Strawberries between the two stores from February 1st through the weekend after Vday.  If you got a dozen or two we sure hope you enjoyed them!!

They will be back for Mother's Day week. (We all need a few months to regain our sanity and lose a few pounds!  One perk for working at the Pecan Shed is you get to eat the "oopsies"!)  But in the meantime if you need a fix remember we have our Fudge Dipping Cups available year round in both Milk Chocolate and Vanilla Fudge.  Same great fudge we use at the stores you can use at home.  And as a bonus you can dip whatever you want!!!  At my house our favorite treat is to dip Oreo cookies into the vanilla fudge cup.  If you can eat more than one you better check your blood sugar levels!  

As we say goodbye to February and look forward to March we have some fun new ideas we are looking forward to sharing with all of you!  Angela B. and Linda who make our fudge at the Wichita Falls store have a great new fudge flavor coming out tomorrow.  All I can say is it has caramel, divinity fudge, and pecans and smells so good when they are making it!  Like makes you want to lick the air it is so good!!!  (Caramel is my kryptonite!)

But if fudge is too sweet for you stop by the Henrietta store.  Jill N, Sara Jo, and Angela B are always whipping up fun new ideas in that kitchen!  It is hard to work over there most days because I keep hearing...Try this! or Taste that!  Those girls are hard on a keto diet let me tell you!

Well the sun is shining.  The air is getting just a bit warmer outside.  And apparently Dad needs me to call him back so I better wrap this up!  Y'all stop by and see us soon!  We are looking forward to your visit!

We Want the Rain But Not the Hail...

This time of year, as the pecan trees begin to put on those tiny buds which will turn out to be the upcoming crop, pecan farmers pray for the spring rains but they dread the thought of hail, high winds, tornadoes, or late freezes.  Many mornings after a spring storm you will find a pecan farmer driving through their orchards checking rain gauges and/or the damage Mother Nature can bring. 

Growing up I watched my dad stay up until the 10pm weather forecast was over then he went to bed (how he slept or if he slept depended on the forecast).  Nowadays, thanks to technology, most farmers can check the apps on their phones to see the forecast any time of day (but I bet the majority still watch the nightly news to see what the local weatherman has to say at that time of night).  I also watched both my parents worry about the weather on numerous occasions.  Some things we can control, or at the very least minimize the damage, but some things are beyond our control.

Farmers can prepare for the lack of rain by irrigating crops from well water.  However there are very few ways to stop a flood.

When it comes to a freeze, farmers can water the trees (a wet freeze is better than a dry one) or they can try to burn hay to create smoke to keep the heat in.  Unfortunately some freezes are just too cold for too long and no amount of water or smoke will save the crop.

Hail, high winds, and tornadoes can only be dealt with in prayer.  In just a few minutes a severe hail storm can strip a tree bare or a high winds can break off limbs.  Of course we all know tornadoes can twist or uproot full grown trees or even snap them in half.

This time of year it always makes me think of our own walk through life.  We want the blessings God has to give us but we dread the hardships and trials we must sometimes face.  We try to prepare for the worst but some things we just cannot prepare ourselves for.  We make every effort to do things on our own but sometimes the only thing we can do is pray. 

Life has a funny way of offering us blessings like rain and sometimes we even feel overrun by those blessings to the point of a burden similar to a flood.  Other times life withholds blessings and we feel as if we are going through a drought.

Sometimes we can see the trouble coming and we can get ourselves ready for it like farmers do to their trees during a light freeze, but sometimes the trouble is just too much for us to withstand like it is for the trees during a hard freeze.

And then life comes at us with things we have no control over...cancer, death, accidents, hate crimes, etc...and like a tree in a storm with hail, high winds or a tornado we must just endure until the storm passes.  But unlike the tree, while we endure the storm we can turn to God to find shelter for our spiritual self in the storm. 

While a storm may rage all around us, thanks to God, it does not have to rage within us.  With God's love, joy, and peace we can find refuge in any storm. 

Just as pecan farmers take inventory of the damage and as they do what needs to be done to salvage any kind of crop for the current year or future years, we too must pick up the pieces and move on after a storm in life.