Pecan business has been great this year. Deanna has already made $50.00 and still has more pecans to sell. She's also steadily picking more for poor mama to sort and bag.
I've never seen a year like this. The last two have been terrible. The trees just didn't produce. They say that pecan trees rest every seventh year, so the first year we were expecting a poor crop. But, then, to have another poor crop the next year was upsetting. I depend on pecans for my baking. I always shell several pounds and freeze the meat. I had completely run out and found myself at the grocery store buying pecans at $8.99/lb. during the year. It was a travesty! I live in a pecan orchard and I had to buy them at the store!
So this year, I'm shelling tons to replenish my stock. One year I shelled and froze 17 cups of nuts. I'm about on par with that this year.
The amazing thing is that the nuts seem to just be flying out the door. People love our pecans fresh from the orchard, and always have, but usually sales are slower. One year we had just sat down to Thanksgiving Dinner at Grandma's house - all 22 of us - when the doorbell rang. A woman with an entourage asked if she could buy some pecans from my father. Her family had decided that they wanted a pecan pie and she was trying to oblige. Papa jumped up from the table and made the sale. Now, why couldn't she have come the day before? Or, at least, early in the day. But right during Thanksgiving Dinner? My father didn't care. He was happy to have the customers.
Last Friday, Don was doing yardwork in the front yard. Dane was home sick with his stomach bug and wandered around the front yard with his daddy. Suddenly, people started descending on our house. I suppose it was because they saw him in the yard and knew someone was home. I actually had people knocking on the front and back doors at the same time. As one car would pull out of the driveway, another would pull in. I'd complete a sale, walk back into the kitchen, and the doorbell would ring again. It was madness. I finally told Don that we only had four pounds left to sell and I had better go and pick. As I was walking down the street, I saw a car pull into the driveway. In a few minutes, Don appeared with the dog.
"Did we sell out?" I asked.
"Yep! It's a good thing you're picking more."
Yesterday was the same way, without Don in the front yard. I sold 25 pounds in one hour. And everyone who's bought from us has asked how much longer we'll have nuts, because they think they might want more.
The only thing I can figure is that after two bad years, everyone's afraid we'll sell out (which is quite likely) and wants to make sure they get their nuts, so they're flocking to our house early in the season. It's great. I'd love to sell completely out before Thanksgiving and not have to mess with pecans anymore while I prepare for Christmas.
In the meantime, I dutifully sort through the children's bags and take out leaves, sticks, hulls, and bad pecans. It's a dirty job, and I have to wash my hands repeatedly. But they're making money and it's not coming out of MY pocket. It'd take a lot of lost teeth to make $50.00 from the .75 the tooth fairy leaves.
After all, isn't that what Mom's are for?
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