Pecans are a type of nut that comes from the lowlands around the Mississippi. The fruit thrives throughout the southern United States, the lowlands of Texas, and northern Mexico – locations with fertile soil, long summers, and bitterly cold winters. Pecans are a favorite of bakers and confectioners., especially in the fall and holiday season. Harvesting pecans that fall to the ground is a slow and backache job. Luckily, with a little preparation and the right equipment, manually harvesting pecans can be a lot of fun, especially on a sunny fall day.
Step
Method 1 of 4: Determining Harvest Time
Step 1. Look at the pecan tree to see if the fruit is ready to fall
Pecans usually start to fall from early September to Novembers so harvest preparation should be done before the fruit begins to fall, but not too far from harvest day so that your efforts are not disrupted by time and weather.
Step 2. Make sure the nut trees that are the target harvest can give results commensurate with your efforts
Some pecan trees produce low-quality nuts, either because of poor growth times, poor soil and nutrient quality, or because of poor genetic backgrounds. Some of the factors that affect the quality of nuts are:
- A nonhybrid tree that produces seedling nut, no larger than a small acorn. This tree produces nuts with hard shells that are difficult to extract the flesh. A poor genetic background can also be found in hybrid trees that inherit poor fruit qualities from their predecessors.
- Labor growing conditions include drought in the spring and summer so that the tree cannot produce good fruit. This is usually the case for non-irrigated areas, as well as in soils that have poor water retention.
- Low levels of essential nutrients in the soil, especially nitrogen and trace minerals/elements such as zinc, iron, and manganese can significantly reduce the quality of beans.
- Pests such as webworms, shootworms and pecan beetles can also have a serious impact on the health of trees and the nuts they produce.
- Cold air can damage the flowers and buds of the pecan tree so that the number of sets of nuts that grow will decrease after the blooming period.
Step 3. Look at the tree to check the quality of the nuts, either in terms of quality or quantity
In late summer, the pecans will reach their full size, including the skin. This way, you can estimate the size of a ripe nut once the skin has dried and the fruit has dropped. Note that the pecan shells make up 25-30% of the total mass, so pecans that look large while still covered in skin will turn small once the skin is peeled off.
Step 4. Watch for peeling skin
When most of the nut shells have started to crack and open, you can start cleaning the area under the tree. Remove any debris that is on the ground under the tree, then act to level the area as needed in this situation. Trees standing on grassy ground or overgrown with weeds may need extra effort to clean.
Method 2 of 4: Preparing the Harvest Area
Step 1. Cut the grass around the tree where weeds are growing underneath
Rotate the tree so that the cut grass is thrown away from the trunk by rotating the mower as close to the trunk as possible. This will cause the ejector on the lawn mower to hurl grass chips or other debris away from the tree. Continue mowing the grass to an area about 3-4.5 meters from the tree branch so that the nuts that fall near the furthest trunk are easily visible to pick up. Pecan nuts may fall some distance from the tree in strong winds.
Step 2. Pick up the pecans that are starting to fall
Wet weather can damage nuts, while wild animals can steal nuts left on the ground. Crows and squirrels love pecans, as do deer and other wild animals.
Step 3. Allow the leaves to pile up or blow away
Use a leaf blower if possible, as looking for pecans in an area filled with similarly colored leaves will make your job even more difficult.
Method 3 of 4: Harvesting Pecans at Scale
Step 1. Bend over and pick up the pecans on the ground
If early harvesting of pecans doesn't require the help of technology, you can simply bend down and pick the nuts one by one under the tree. Prepare a container, such as a plastic bucket, to store the harvested nuts. For a strong and energetic person, this is an efficient technique for harvesting a pecan tree or two. Some people find that crawling on the ground is also good for collecting pecans.
Step 2. Use a pecan picker if crawling or bending is too difficult for you
There are some tools that attach with a short handle, but most tools sold consist of a wire connection with a receptacle to hold the nuts. The spring portion will be pressed against the nut so that the nut will slip into the wire and get caught in the receptacle. Empty the container into a bucket or other container to prevent the pecans from spilling out.
Step 3. Use a manual rolling picker tool
This is a simple tool that operates like a lawn mower, catching nuts between flexible rollers or fingers and placing them in a holding container. Most of these tools will pick up a lot of debris underneath so you'll want to make sure the area under the tree is clean to make the job easier.
Step 4. Hire a pecan harvester for a large plantation
Pecan nut harvesters use tractor-powered machines that sweep the plantation area to harvest the nuts. When used in conjunction with a tree shaker, this technique can significantly reduce the intensity of work and be the most efficient technique for harvesting nuts, but is not the main focus of this article.
Method 4 of 4: Sorting Harvested Beans
Step 1. Remove damaged or incomplete nuts after harvesting them
If you don't want to crack and peel the pecans yourself, you'll need to hire a specialist to process the damaged nuts. If you intend to sell pecans, supplying substandard quality nuts will result in buyers offering lower prices than high quality pecans. This is usually the case if you want to sell nuts to a wholesale center that performs careful inspections to ensure the quality of the product purchased. Some things that must be considered to determine the quality of pecans are:
- Color. Good pecans should have a uniform color. In some varieties, such as Stuart and Donaldson, the presence of a stripe near the tip of the shoot and a firmer shape between the stripes (usually black) and the shell (light brown) are signs of good quality beans.
- Shell shape. Pecans are formed under the shell because nutrients enter from the arteries in the shell, then pass through the soft shell and fill the shoot at the end. If hot weather, lack of nutrients in the soil, and pest attack on the shoots interfere with the feeding process, the beans will be tapered at the ends. This indicates that the beans are not growing properly.
- Voice. This may sound odd, but the pecans will make a distinctive sound when shaken or dropped. Pecans that sound hollow are usually empty, while good pecans sound solid even if you just shake them by hand. When collecting the pecans, shake them one by one and crack the nuts that sound suspicious. Over time you will have good hearing to recognize good, full pecans.
- Peanut weight. Even though the individual pecans are very small in weight, an experienced harvester who does the sorting by hand is able to notice the clear difference between quality pecans and lesser pecans.
Step 2. Put the pecans in the sack to store them
In general, pecans can be stored freely in burlap sacks and then placed in a cool, dry place for several weeks after harvest. The quality of the nuts will improve over time, especially when harvested early because the fruit will ripen during storage. Do not skip the process of cooking the beans. Pecans that are not left to cook will not crack completely and are difficult to peel. Freezing will stop the cooking process. So make sure the beans are allowed to cook before you freeze them. Freezing allows the beans to last longer without compromising their quality. Remember that nature has given pecans a hard shell, an almost perfect container for storing their contents.
Step 3. Peel the peanut shells
If you're lucky enough to live near a pecan nut processing facility, you can take your harvested nuts there for machine cracking. You can also go to the nearest farm supply store because most of these locations have a nutcracker. Be prepared to pay around IDR 250 thousand to IDR 400 thousand per half kilogram of beans to use this service. If you want to crack your own nuts, you can purchase a pecan breaker for this task.
Tips
- The ancients used to wear the end of the shirt as an "apron" to hold the pecan nuts. Some also tie it like a "kangaroo bag" to hold the nuts until it's time to throw the nuts into a bucket or sack.
- Harvesting early is usually profitable if you intend to sell the produce. Most of the pecans sold in supermarkets in the United States are purchased to cook holiday cookies, so the market selling price at the beginning of the season is the highest throughout the year.
- Enjoy the process. Don't work too hard or for too long until you're exhausted. You'll want to harvest beans quickly and efficiently, but don't forget to enjoy the fresh autumn air at work.
- Pay attention to the area around you as the nuts start to fall. Oftentimes, you will find branches with large fruit or falling at different times, making it more productive to concentrate on certain areas under the tree.
- Storing nuts from different trees, especially from trees of different varieties, can make selling (or peeling) easier because they may vary in size. The peeler or even the manual peeler must be set to a specific nut size. Otherwise, the larger or smaller nut will not crack completely.
- Keeping the area under the tree clean is one of the most important steps to making harvesting fun. Weeds, weeds, and litter will make finding and picking nuts even more difficult.
Warning
- Beware of insect attacks while you work. Fire ants are troublesome pests and often feed on pecans that the animals break when they fall to the ground. Beware of the allergic reactions of fire ants and bees before you venture out into the garden soil for pecans.
- Use good judgment when starting to harvest. Slouching too long to pick up pecans can cause back pain.
