Shelling Pecans

Saturday I was finally over the flu, so when D returned from a local pecan cracker with 10 pounds of cracked beautiful Desirables (that's a pecan variety :) !) we all sat on the back porch, spread them on the plastic tablecloth and shelled them. After weighing them into 1-pound bags, we delivered our first "prize" to friends and neighbors, reserving some in our fridge for soon-to-come Thanksgiving pies! The nuts were grown in an irrigated orchard in northern Georgia and make us even more excited about getting our trees in the ground and growing.

We pick up our first tree order next Saturday from Lake View Pecans in Bailey. D is taking Friday through the whole next week off to dig 3' wide, 4' deep holes at each tree spot with a rented bobcat with a 3' auger attachment. We will then hand mix lime into the soil (just a small amount) before refilling the hole, then he will subsoil both across and down each row which should break up any "glazing" done by the auger. After the subsoiling is done, we will use the tractor to smooth out the rows and will then replace each measured marker for the exact center of the hole. Our plan is to then be able to simply use manual post hole diggers for the hole and planting of each pot. We will probably try to get all of the NC trees (85 of them, 4 different varieties) in the ground before Christmas, but definitely by New Years. I will hand water and tend to the trees in the pots between this Saturday and the day they go into the ground. After New Years we will be going to Texas to get the rest of the trees (385 total but just two varieties). That's the plan. We will see what reality brings :) !