Times Record News Story

Today in our local newspaper, Times Record News, Judith McGinnis wrote an article about the Montz Orchards and the Pecan Shed. She interviewed Jake and took some nice pictures. There is a lot of good information in there (as much as I hate to admit it...my older brother knows what he is talking about).

If you have a moment read it over...

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2011/oct/10/drought-taking-a-toll/

New Crop Pecans Coming...SOON!

Dad, Jake, and the guys out in Charlie have just begun to run shakers and harvesters. Soon our cleaning plant will be humming with activity getting all the pecans ready for our retail store. We should have new crop pecans available at the Pecan Shed sometime around the end of this month.

As you may have heard...we had a drought this year. Yep...no rain...100 days of 100+ degree heat...all that did not do much good for our pecan trees.

BUT...yes friends there is a but!!! Thank the heavens for a "but"!

We do have pecans this year!!! Just not many of them! So what does this mean for you???

Well...the good news is you can still have pecan pie, pecan fudge, pecan ice cream, and all those other pecan goodies. The bad news is pecans are going to be more expensive this year...quite a bit more I am afraid.

The U.S., as a whole, is expected to be 30 to 50 million...yes I said MILLION...pounds short of demand. And if I remember correctly from Dr. Patterson's Econ101 class...when demand exceeds supply that causes the price to go up.

I have not heard what the exact pricing for pecans will be yet...but that information should be coming out soon. We will be offering our in the shell and cracked pecans in 5 pound bags again this year (100 pounds is the minimum for wholesale). We will have shelled pecans available in either the 1 pound bag or the 4 pound bag as always, but we have added two new sizes this year. We now have a 12 ounce bag and a 3 pound bag of shelled pecans available. We do still wholesale shelled pecans in 30 pound bulk cases.

If you need pecans and cannot wait until new crop comes off, we do still have some of last years pecans available that have been frozen (thus they have about one year of quality left in them). We have shelled pecans available from the 2010 crop in the Wichita and Choctaw varieties as well as pieces.

Dating an Aggie

I have many "Aggies" in my family. My Papa, Uncle Donny, Aunt Patty, and several cousins have all gone to A&M (and that is just the immediate family). Jake graduated from Tarleton State University (which is a part of the A&M system) and I went there my freshmen year (I graduated from MSU).

However, I have never noticed how hard it is to find Texas A&M "stuff" in Wichita Falls until I started dating an A&M alum (aka...fanatic). Robert not only bleeds Aggie Maroon (not to be confused with the other schools who have maroon as a color), but he also lives and dies with the football team (which is KILLING him lately...and not making my Saturday nights much fun either). He also has a lot of A&M merchandise. You name it...that boy has it.

Unfortunately, when we made plans to attend an A&M game earlier this year I was shocked to discover how hard it is to find A&M stuff in this area! I couldn't even find a tshirt (in my size...apparently most Aggies are thin...all the shirts left in Wichita Falls were 3XL)!

The good news is the Pecan Shed carries A LOT of A&M "stuff". We have totes, bags, coolers, jewelry bags, coasters, car coasters, golf balls, dominoes, stuffed bears, sock monkeys, magnets, flags, picture frames, shot glasses, travel mugs, coffee mugs, knick knacks, and even garden gnomes! Just to name a few things!!!

And due to the shortage of "A&M availability" I have plans to expand our A&M line. Keep watching for new items to come in!

With Christmas just around the corner, make sure you stop by the Pecan Shed to get all the Aggies on your list the perfect gift! Gig 'Em (while you can)!

Local Honey

Many people suffer from allergies. In fact, one report says over 36 million people suffer from allergy symptoms here in the U.S. I have several friends with runny noses, watery eyes, and an overall miserable disposition when they are having a hard time with their allergies.

Over the counter medicines, prescriptions, and injections are all used to offer help for allergy sufferers. Another type of natural medication is thought to be honey...and the best kind is the honey you can find in your local area.

The Pecan Shed sells local honey from Jean Bouchard. We have 16 ounce bottles for $8.95 each. Currently we are carrying the "clover" honey. If you are looking for something to give you some relief from your allergy symptoms you might want to give local honey a try.

Pumpkin Pie Fudge is Back!

Back by popular demand...Pumpkin Pie Fudge (with or without pecans). This fudge is so popular we get requests for it year round but we only make it in the fall. We have it planned as our Fudge Flavor of the Month for October but we just could not wait any longer!!!

Stop in for a taste today! If you like pumpkin pie then you will LOVE this fudge!

Cooler Weather and RAIN!!!

Don't look now but we have had a front move through and we have below average temperatures and RAIN!!! We still need a lot of rain to make up for the drought we had but with every drop we are off to a good start.

Believe it or not, rain now is what we need for next year's crop. Our trees need rain now to survive and be able to produce again in the future. So keep up the rain dances and all the prayers...farmers, ranchers, orchard owners, and everyone as a whole still need those heavenly drops of moisture from the skies!

Bad But Better Than Most...

So many times lately I get asked the question...

"How will your pecan crop be this year?"

My reply is always, "Bad but better than most."

The Pecan Shed will have pecans for our retail customers this year. However, it is our wholesale customers that will suffer. We have such a limited crop, we will not be able to wholesale much...if anything.

But we are the lucky ones.

Some pecan growers around this state and elsewhere have absolutely no crops. Theirs were either froze out by a late freeze back this spring or burnt up by the drought this summer (some of them even burned in the fires raging across this state). My heart truly goes out to these growers, their families, their employees, and their customers.

No one ever said farming was easy...at least no one that ever did it for very long...and this is just one of those tough years that we will all have to "hunker down" as my dad says and try to survive until next harvest.

I pray for rain, for better crops, and for those who are really struggling to make ends meet.