11/2/12 - Early to rise - it's pecan pickin' day!

 

An Oklahoma tradition!

Now I know why pecans are so expensive! It takes a good while to pick one-by-one. Three of us hand-picked approximately 100 lbs. of pecans in 3 hours, filling nearly three 5 gal. buckets.

 

They now sit in buckets waiting to be taken to a place in town that will crack them open with a shelling machine.  After shelling, the nuts are processed through an air cleaner to remove as much shell and unwanted debris as possible.  According to my internet research, it appears that the cost for cracking/shelling is somewhere between .40 and .85 per lb. The  approximate 100 lbs. of pecans we picked will yield approximately 20-25 lbs. of  pure pecan after the nut is separated from the shell.




                                                                  We Three Pecan Pickers

                                                                            Betty & I 

                                                                      Betty & Dana
 

 There are pecan picker tools to avoid constant bending over and I now know that my body would appreciate having one of those on hand next time.

The folks who steward the land where we picked today just recently moved to Oklahoma from "Iowa"!  (Iowa is an inside story for some of you who have heard that Renya Tale.)

Taking a break in between picking, look who I met!

Back to Betty's wonderful cozy home to plunk myself once again in the hammock for relaxation and sun rays.  Followed by more feather foraging for making more of my prayer bundles, watering the gardens, and enjoying a wonderful twilight chat with Chelsea and Nate.

                            This is a pic I took of my shadow waving to you from the red earth
                                                                that I love so very much.

 
 Another blessed day has come to a close.