You’d Stoop to Pick Up a Nickle, Wouldn’t You?
Pecans.
They’ve been raining from the trees for the last month.
More so than I remember in recent years.
Or maybe because I’m seeing more folks out picking them up off the ground?
This must be the way they harvest them in those irrigated professional orchards.
But in a small town built in the middle of a pecan grove, this is what you see.
White buckets.
People use them.
Dogs use them.
Okay, I think those are technically walnuts with the Goldy but you get the idea. White folks, black folks, young or old — people have been seen around town stooping to pick up nuts.
Michael stopped my the house the other day to see if I needed any thing done.
My garden was in sore need of weeding and I wasn’t going to get out there anytime soon. Before he got to work on my weeds, we got to talking.
“Someone’s been getting your pecans,” he said.
“Yes, lots of people have come by asking to pick them up. The last one was my pastor,” I said with a laugh.
“You know,” he paused to put a piece of pecan in his mouth, “I used to be the only one in town picking up buckets full and everyone used to laugh at me. Now everyone’s doing it.”
 * * *
Out walking the dog this afternoon, I turned down a gravel road.
I saw an unfamiliar car parked and a white bucket off to the side of the road.
The farther I walked up the clay road, a woman, man and teenager came around the corner with bags full of pecans.
“You are going what I need to be doing,” I joked — in small towns it appears impolite not to engage conversation on a gravel road when you are the only parties traveling it.
I think she mistook my comment – for she asked if this was my property.
I said no and that I wasn’t sure whose it was.
The next few minutes were spent discussing the price per pound folks within a 50 mile radius were paying for nuts.
She explained they pay more for the big round ones.
“Every time I pick one up I think — there’s a nickle,” she said with a laugh bending over to pick up a nut.
When I got home I unleashed the dog and got a bag.
And picked up a bunch of Thomas Jeffersons.
Do you stop to pick up a nickle? A penny?
Linking up with Greta @Gfunkied and Julie @Mamamash for another Wednesday’s iPPP.
I love pecans! Of course I also value money, but I would probably pick up a pecan before I pick up a nickle 😉
Good point Kerstin. I hate to hear them crunching now as I drive over them. I feel like I’m wasting a natural resource.
The pic of the rugged hands is just beautiful. I love it and keep going back up to look at it again. What a shot!
I love this post. How cool to have pecans drop to your feet.
Yummo! I love pecans. If I weren’t all the way in Chicago, I would be on your doorstep with a white bucket.
Colleen, when I decided to write this post, there were no buckets around. If only I’d had my camera when walking the dog and came upon that family. I chose it because like you said it is a great shot — and it has the white bucket in it. My son uses them for bait at the beach, but around here I think of people bending over throwing pecans in them.
Good point about picking up a nickel. It must be nice to see this going on though… all those white buckets and people picking the pecans!!! 🙂
What a lovely post with some beautiful pictures.
I love the generosity of others sharing their pecan trees with strangers.
I’d definitely pick up a pecan or two!
When we lived at our last house, we had a pear tree in the backyard, and it just RAINED pears. Not the good, ripe, sweet, juicy kind. They were always hard and tart. And after a while, they started to ripen on the ground and smell. My husband called it the “welcoming smell”. We live in the country, but a man would pull up in the driveway and pick them up for his horses….buckets full. I was always home with the kids by myself, and it creeped me out. But I guess the previous owners had told him it was fine.
Wow, that was a lot of comment….all to say that I think I’d rather have a driveway full of pecans. Ha!
The Pear Man. Out by yourself in the country — eek. I’m used to folks knocking on the door here. I don’t think much of it. But I’d like to think the dog would know if someone was going to mess with me.
I love that first picture. There’s just something so human about it.
I remember my parents had a black walnut tree in their front yard. They are such a pain I’m pretty sure we only harvested them one year. You have to get them out of their fruit like casing- which stinks and stains, let them dry out- and then crack open. They were delicious but you really had to work for them.
Pretty sure we had big white buckets too.
I would definitely stop and pick some pecans but maybe not a bucketfull.
This made me smile b/c we have 3 trees in our front and side yard and one hangs over the street. These 2 ladies walk by almost every night and pick up the ones in front of the house and we chat and they eat them all before they even get back home.
I gave a bunch to my house cleaner and she made me some pralines. We have enough picked now to make a pie… they ARE good. And pricey! 😉
Oh, what memories! I grew up in rural NC, and we would always take one fall afternoon to go to a family friend’s house for the gathering of the pecans. Hadn’t thought about that in years – or the kitchen table covered in newspaper while we cracked them all, teasing Mom for being so much slower than Dad. Thanks for reminding me!!
I’ve got a bag of them sitting on my kitchen counter top right now. When I’m waiting for laundry or just find myself spacing out at the kitchen counter I crack a few and put it into another bag. Got enough for at least two pies at present — so we’re good for Thanksgiving.
Pralines. Oh Elaine, I hadn’t even considered those. I might have to try that soon. Those were my absolute FAVORITE when I was a little girl. I loved the thin ones.
We had pecan trees all over the place in Texas. Sometimes we picked up the nuts and shelled them for ourselves, but never thought to sell them. Between that and figs, and peas, the kids were kept pretty busy on the back porch!