Mother Nature (aka...Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)

Mother Nature is showing no love to North Texas lately. Not only are we heading into the third year of a serious drought, but now we have faced multiple "late" freezes. All this means tough times for farmers and all those who rely on Mother Nature to help them out in business.

From the Pecan Shed's perspective...the outlook for next year's crop is not so good. We were already planning on a shorter crop due to the lack of rain, but last week's freeze wiped out a good portion of our crop...especially the Wichita and Pawnee pecans. Tonight we are expected to get yet another freeze (after several 80+ degree days). This has the potential to do even more damage to our already heavy hit crop.

I know we are not the only ones suffering. Pecan growers across Texas and Oklahoma are facing situations similar to ours. We have friends who own lawn service companies that have felt the pinch from Mother Nature as well. In addition to all this, we recently were told a wonderful business here in Wichita Falls, Smiths Gardentown, has had to temporarily close down due to the drought. Smiths has been in business for several generations here in Wichita Falls, and many people (including my family) buy all there flowering plants from Smiths. However, due to the drought and water restrictions, Smiths has experienced a severe drop in sales which has caused them to temporarily close. I know we all hope they will open up again soon!

The backlash from Mother Nature has had an impact on all of us. It hurts farmers and all those in agriculture, it also hurts vendors who rely on agriculture business (such as fertilizer and equipment companies), and ultimately it hurts the consumer as well. When crops are in short supply prices do go up (it is the simple rule of supply and demand in our economic structure).

We all hope and pray for rain...for our crops, for our animals, for livelihood...for our sanity and our spirits.

Lately, I have referred to Mother Nature as a "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"...if she isn't seething with hot anger… she is freezing you out with the cold shoulder. The good news is Mother Nature is just like any other woman...she can change her mind. It was not that long ago (2007) that we had record rainfall...so there is hope. Just like a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend we will just have to wait and see what mood Mother Nature is in tomorrow.

Breaking Ground...

We are SO EXCITED to announce that we will have an official ground breaking for the new Pecan Shed in Henrietta on Monday, April 8th at 11am. I hope if you are out and about in that area you will stop by to see us "dig in" to this new adventure! The new Pecan Shed location will be on the west side of the Best Western on Hwy 287. We have been working hard on the plans for this location and we are thrilled to start moving the dirt and making our dreams a reality!!!
We will close the Pecan Shed in Wichita Falls on Monday, April 8th from 10am until 12:30pm so our entire staff can be a part of the ground breaking.
We hope to have the new Pecan Shed open by October 1st of this year!
The Pecan Shed in Wichita Falls will stay open...we will just have two stores to better serve our customers. Each store will do some things similar and then some things will be unique to each one of them. The Pecan Shed in Wichita Falls will remain the same. We will continue to crack pecans for the public (which is a service we offer year round) and we will continue to buy from the public (this will start again in November). We will also have our famous fudge available!
The Pecan Shed in Henrietta will not buy pecans or crack pecans for the public. Due to limited warehouse space we will not be able to offer these services. The new Pecan Shed will offer our famous fudge as well as we have plans to do more baking...things like cookies, pies, and who knows what else we might come up with! We will also have fountain drinks, coffee, gas, and some other convience items at the new Pecan Shed that we do not offer at our current location.
We promise to keep you posted on all the great things that are going on at our new location! Stay tuned! It is going to get exciting I have no doubts!!!!

New Featured Fudge Flavor...

Back by popular demand...RED VELVET FUDGE!

This is our current Featured Fudge Flavor and it is a favorite...not only of our customers but the staff LOVES this fudge!!! I have a personal addiction...I mean affection...for it as well.

Stop in for a piece today!

Hedging Time

It is time to hedge your pecan trees. We have started the process out at our orchards in Charlie, TX. In order to promote sunlight penetration throughout the orchard, we hedge our trees to keep them from crowding each other.
We all know from elementary science classed that all plants need water and sunlight in order to grow and produce their respective fruits. Pecan trees are no different. They need a lot of sunlight from the top of the tree all the way through to the bottom limbs in order to produce pecans. If trees get too crowded they will begin to "shade out" and when this happens the lower limbs will not produce pecans.
The youtube link below is our pecan hedger in action if you would like to check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSIghzOIlzE
Remember...PRAY FOR RAIN!

Fudge Flavor of the Month for March 2013

S'mores Fudge is back at the Pecan Shed! This is our fudge flavor of the month for March and it is FABULOUS!!!

If you love marshmallow cream...graham crackers...and yummy homemade chocolate fudge (which who in their right mind does not love all those) then you are going to LOVE this fudge!!!

In an effort to make sure we maintain only the highest quality fudge I have been taking taste samples on a daily basis! Trust me...it is ALL GOOD!!!

My job can be difficult some days...but hey...someone has to do it!!!

Life is Too Serious to Take it Serious...

This past weekend my mom and I went to hear Vicki Lawrence speak at an event geared to women and the threat of heart disease. I am a little young to remember too much of Vicki's career but I do remember watching episodes of "Momma's Family" and I thought Momma was hysterically funny. I didn't want her as my own mother but I sure wanted to know someone like her in my neighborhood.

Vicki talked a lot about her career..."The Carol Burnett Show"...and many other projects she was a part of. She also talked about how heart disease had been a part of her family in many ways.

The entire talk was great and I enjoyed it very much but one part really resonated with me. Vicki talked about going through a rough depression. During this time she forgot how to laugh according to her. She said it took years (and a black lab) to pull her out of it.

She then talked about how Carol Burnett said often "life is too serious to take it serious." Now that right there stopped me in my tracks.

I take life very seriously. I know how to laugh and don't get me wrong...I love to laugh. But in the business world I take things very seriously...too seriously. I let a lot of little things eat away at me. I let small negative comments consume me. I worry. I fret. I frown a lot.

I started getting grey hair way too early in life for goodness sake!

After hearing Vicki say that life is too serious to take is serious...I began to think...you know she is right! Of course there are serious things in life that need to be taken care of...they need the proper attention...but everything in life can be handled with a smile.

I have seen many friends and family members laugh at funerals...in hospital rooms...and all sorts of sad places...and they do so because laughter is sometimes the best medicine.

This business I am in can get a little nutty at times...too nutty on some occasions. But the fact is...most of the time...it is never life or death. Of course it is a business that provides for my family and many others and I don't want to take it too lightly...but I can lighten up a little.

I plan to smile more...to laugh more...to look for the glass half full more...to see the rainbows more (that is if it ever does rain again!)...to look for the good in people more.

I know that often what we look for is what we find...so I want to look for joy in life! And who knows...I just might find I have more of it than I even realized!

Jake Made it on CNN Money

http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/31/news/economy/china-pecan-exports/index.html?iid=SF_BN_River

Jake made news today on CNN Money talking about the role the Chinese consumer has been playing in the pecan industry.

Click on the link above to see what all is going on with local pecans...an ocean away!