Trip from Texas

Friday, Dec. 26 - rose at 4:30am, was at airport at 5:50, flight to Atlanta then after sitting on the tarmac, left 2 hours late for Austin.
Arrived in Austin about 1:30pm, picked up at airport by Mrs. Lisa Berdoll who graciously fed our hungry tummies before giving us a tour of both their retail store as well as the orchard and some of the harvesting buildings. The Berdolls are some of the nicest people ever, and we got to meet their daughter (Jennifer) and son-in-law who are buying the store on Monday, as well as their son (Brandon) and his wife who works at the retail store.
After seeing the orchard and Hal's new sorting machine (which he designed himself to re-sort pecans to his own more stringent specifications), we stocked up on some fantastic pecan products at their store and got a few pointers from Hal about planting the trees. They had already loaded up our order (85 Desirable and 235 Pawnee trees that are 2 year-old grafted onto 2 year rootstock, as well as 12 young Pawnees that have been budded but not yet forced, and one large Pawnee that will go at the entrance to the farm).
We drove to the closest Home Depot, bought a padlock to help protect our lifetime savings packed in that truck!, and hit the road just before dark. We drove down to Houston, and on into Iowa before stopping for the night. (Yes, Iowa! - Iowa, Louisiana, that is :) !). Saturday morning we fueled up at Waffle House and got gas for the truck, and hit the road. We crossed Louisiana amidst scattered light showers, marveled at the acres and acres of rice fields, drove across the southern edge of Mississippi, and on into Alabama. From Mobile we headed up to Montgomery, then on to Atlanta by about 8:30pm Saturday night.
Derwin was feeling very achy and feverish by late afternoon and by the time we reached Atlanta was into a full-blown flu. I had thought I would trade off driving with him when needed but a 16' truck loaded with everything it had taken us 30 years of marriage to save, and our two lives at stake if I made a mistake on a rainy, foggy interstate was more than either of us wanted to risk. So we stopped for the night and although D got very little sleep between coughing and headaches, he hung in there to drive us the rest of the way home on Sunday evening (he's amazing!).

Plan for planting:
1 - Unload trees under garden shed cover where can be wrapped/covered if freezes below 15 degrees or so before planting
2 - Subsoil the tree holes where they've been dug with 3' auger in at least 4 places (2 times across each hole)
3 - Level off each hole if sunken
4 - Dig 9" hole for each tree
5 - Remove from pot and plant in hole, packing in well, and then watering
6 - Berm about 3' from trunk around each tree (to hold in irrigation during dry spells before irrigation system is put in); mulch inside the bermed area
7 - Put up electric fence to keep deer out
8 - Wrap tree protectors around each trunk and put up bamboo supports & tie them
9 - Get sprayers, insecticides, etc. ready for spring
10 - Mark varieities with more permanent markings at each row
11 - Log varieties and planting info (weather, etc.) in computer database
12 - Water as needed
13 - Determine/file tax information
14 - Continue to monitor and log weather and soil conditions throughout winter and in preparation for spring fertilizers, etc.

Disgust with wholesalers

Well, my plans to have lots of "Desirables" waiting for Thanksgiving pecan pies (see previous post) backfired! These nuts were so good we ate all of them - yes, all of them!!! - raw as snacks before Thanksgiving ever arrived. Two days before the big meal I did what thousands of Americans do - I went to the grocers and bought pecans. I even had to get a stocker to go in the back and find me some because they were sold out on the shelves. Was I ever disgusted when I got home with my bag of Diamond brand pecan halves, opened it up and popped one in my mouth. I almost spewed it back out it was so disgusting compared to what we had been eating for the previous week. In tiny print on the bag it was noted that the contents were pecans and - AND????!!!! Yes, AND Corn Oil "to preserve freshness". Probably beacuse they are last year's (or year before kept in cold storage) crop from Mexico picked up cheap and resold to you in the grocery at premium price! If you have only ever tasted pecans like these I am very ashamed to tell you that we are pecan growers. You have not tasted a true pecan until you shelled an improved variety like "Pawnee" or "Desirable" and popped it straight in your mouth - no toasting, sugar, or CORN OIL needed! I guess in a way I should thank these purveyors of junk nuts because it has made me fully confident that our fresh nuts will blow them away once people have a chance to taste the difference. So, thanks, Diamond and Food Lion :) !
You're ensuring our success!