Homegrown Pecans

Last weekend we started harvesting pecans from our giant pecan tree. We have a handy “pecan picker-upper” that makes gathering the nuts really easy. It’s a little round cage on a pole, and as you roll the cage along the ground, the pecans get trapped inside.

I’m pretty proud of our pecans, so I’ve been pouring them into various crystal bowls and taking pictures of them in different locations. They’re just so cute in their tiger-striped shells. They make great decorations—and great cat toys (the cats are batting pecans all over the house).

Fresh pecans taste so much better than the pecans you buy at the grocery store. They’re extra sweet and oily and buttery-tasting, not at all bitter or dry. I’m planning on spending lots of winter nights cracking them and drinking hot tea and telling the cats heartwarming stories of my childhood.