Its amazing how a hard freeze helps to kick the harvest season into high gear. Our pecans are opening up nicely and are drying out quickly. I've been taste testing nuts for a couple of weeks now and for the most part, the nuts have been rubbery and green tasting. Previously, the kernels had just too high of a moisture content. Today, I ate my first fully dry and great tasting pecan from this year's crop--a Faith pecan (photo at right).
So far, our harvesting equipment seems to be working without any major problems (photo at left). Today, we moved the harvester into the Kanza block. Yields in this block of trees are once again
impressive judging from the number of full super-sacks that are being pulled out the field. However, I'm seeing indications that tree crowding has reduced nut production in sections of this block. Later this winter, I'll consult my
thinning plan for this block of Kanza trees and sharpen my chainsaw.
