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Local pecans!


One of my friends here in Stokes County is a horticulturist who used to work for the county’s agricultural cooperative extension service. He was here a couple of days ago for my winter solstice fire. He brought for me a couple of pounds of pecans, which were grown in a pecan orchard only a few miles north of me. The pecan orchard, I understand, is small. It sells its crop to local buyers. This is wonderful.

Historically (and my memory goes back to the 1950s), pecans in this area of North Carolina were brought in from Georgia. Pecan trees will grow here, but I think that, historically, only connoisseurs have grown pecan trees in North Carolina for their own use. I’m no expert on pecans, but I suspect that the warming climate means that pecan trees are as happy now in North Carolina as they were decades ago in Georgia. I have two three-year-old pecan trees in the abbey orchard. They are years away from producing. But, as my horticulturist friend said, pecan trees get off to a slow start as they build their root system.

Walnut trees grow wild here and are quite common. Harvesting walnuts involves a lot of work. By comparison, harvesting pecans is a piece of cake. Or should I say, a piece of pie.

Do I dare make a pecan pie from my local pecans? Pecan pie is the classic Southern American way of disposing of pecans.

2 Comments

  1. MHK wrote:

    Two thumbs up on making a pecan pie. I add a small amount of strong coffee to the filling. It cuts the cloying sweetness and enhances the flavor. BTW-the recipe came from one of my college professors who grew up in Alabama and retained her southern accent, which was delightful.

    Saturday, December 25, 2021 at 12:26 pm | Permalink
  2. daltoni wrote:

    Hi MHK: Yum! Great idea with the coffee. I think I will use Erma Rombauer’s 1943 recipe, which sounds like traditional Southern pecan pie. I don’t have any corn syrup though, so I will need to acquire that before I can make a pie…

    Saturday, December 25, 2021 at 12:33 pm | Permalink

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