Many Cracked Pecans & Harvested 'Gold Rush' Apples Now

   We started selling our 2024 pecan crop today, Nov. 1, unusually early.  My husband Bill started harvesting pecans on Oct. 25, and the very dry weather caused the nuts to get dry enough to crack by Oct. 31.  We now have a good supply of both 'Kanza' pecans and selections from Bill's pecan breeding program for sale.  All these pecans have large nuts, thin shells and great taste, and I give taste samples.

We now have selections from Bill's pecan breeding program (bags on left) & 'Kanza' pecans (bags on right) for sale. The plastic boxes show what the cracked pecans look like inside the paper bags.

   Pecans store well for 3-4 months in a fridge, and for over 6 years in a freezer.  We sell cracked pecans in 4-pound bags, which are over 75% pecan kernels and under 25% shell fragments.  Each bag has the equivalent of 6 pounds of in-shell pecans, and when you pick out the kernels, you get 3 pounds or more of nutmeats.  Each bag costs $19.32 + sales tax. 

Bill started shaking our pecan trees, to jar nuts to the ground, on Oct. 25.

   Large amounts of rain are predicted for Nov. 3-5, so Bill won't be able to harvest pecans next week, but he'll keep cracking more pecans as we sell the ones he's cracked.  Hopefully he can harvest more pecans in mid-Nov.

Bill pulls the mechanical pecan harvester around the trees he's just shaken. This harvester scoops up pecans from the ground with rubber fingers, and expels leaves and other debris out the back.

   We now have over 200 pounds of harvested #1 'Gold Rush' apples, and over 100 pounds of harvested #2 'Gold Rush' apples, packed and ready for sale in our cooler.  #1 'Gold Rush' apples keep in top condition for fresh eating for 10 to 11 months in a fridge when stored in the plastic bags I packed them in.  This apple variety gets sweeter after a month or two in cold storage, as starches convert into sugars.  #2 'Gold Rush' apples keep for 3 to 4 months in a fridge.

Yesterday I harvested this 20-pound box of #1 'Gold Rush' apples, which turn bright yellow when ready to eat.  We'll have harvested 'Gold Rush' apples for sale until about May 2025.

   Harvested apples sell for $1.45 per pound + sales tax for #1 fruit with no damage.  A 20-pound box of #1 fruit costs $28.02 + sales tax, and you save $1.00.  We have some very nice #2 fruit that sell for $1.16 per pound + sales tax.

  We also have small amounts of harvested #1 and #2 'Enterprise' apples, and mainly #2 selections from my apple breeding program for sale. Our pick-your-own apple season for 'Enterprise' apples ended on Oct. 29, and the pick-your-own apple season for 'Gold Rush' apples ends Nov. 2.

   If you want to buy more than 20 pounds of harvested apples or more than 5 bags of pecans, please phone 620-597-2450 a day ahead and leave a message on our answering machine saying the day and time you'll come, and what you want to buy.

   If I'm not in our sales building when you arrive, ring the bell on our sales building porch very loudly, so I can hear it when I'm harvesting near the back of our apple orchard.  On rainy days, I put a sign by the bell that I'm working on the computer, so call our house phone (620-597-2450) and I'll come out to the sales building.  

   Revised projected sales dates for all our crops are shown in the updated sidebar at left under Crop Sales Seasons.  That also tells which crops we sell harvested, and which crops we sell pick-your-own.

   As always, we take cash or checks for payment, but NO credit cards or debit cards, and no "apps".  We don't use a smart phone, and have no phone line to the sales building.  So please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover the amount of fruit you want to buy.  Thanks.