We were able to start pecan harvest this week (photo above). The first trees that we were able to shake were some young Faith and Gardner trees in our "double-row" tree planting. Because we were harvesting experimental plots, we used our old Lockwood pecan harvester along with our small trunk shaker. Besides Faith and Gardner we were also able to harvest some Osage, Witte and Pawnee trees. Unfortunately, yesterday's rain showers has put a stop to our harvest for the time being.
In cleaning the nuts we harvested this week, I noticed that the pecans were not fully dry. During the cleaning process, green shucks were knocked off nuts but that still left us with a sack full of nut that needed additional drying time. We placed cleaned pecans in burlap bags which will allow the nuts to dry down while being stored in the barn.
