Tucked away in Sussex County, Va., the farm is 13 miles (and some 75 years) off the highway. The farmland has been in the family since the 1830s. We joke about traveling through time to get out there, but so little has changed that you have to use the vehicles to fix a date.
The total acreage of the Pecan Concern is going to top out at about 40. The remaining acreage is set to growing one of Sussex's more traditional crops-- pine trees.
The soil is a sandy silt loam and should prove well to our Pecan groves. Along with the high water table, heavy annual rain fall has been all the irrigation needed. There are few rocks (if any) in the fields, but we occasionally will find an arrow head or other stone tool from another age.
As a family, we decided long ago to keep the space green and not to allow for development. It was not till later that we decided to become a Pecan Farm.
THE TREES
Oak Park Pecan Company has determined that a minimum of three (Zone 7 specific) varieties of Pecan trees will planted to ensure strong pollination and high yields.....grafted to strong disease resistant root stock and be proven annual producers. As the Oak Park Pecan Company becomes more familiar with the process of tree grafting, the search for native local Pecan varieties will allow for a nursery on-site.
FUTURE HARVEST
Oak Park Pecan Company's chosen varieties should yield early and allow for harvests in September and October. The majority of the harvest should be ready to ship prior to popular holiday seasons and before first frost.
As far as harvest goes, we have had one every year since the winter of 2009/10 and with some certainty can say that we will always have one moving forward- with a significant rise in the number of pounds produced just around the corner!
Once we have the full 40 acres producing, we are hoping for a 1000 pounds per acre, but it could be more if we're feeling optimistic. If it happen to be less then that is just fine as well. Pecans are delicious!
OUR VARIETIES
Curtis
Stuart
Pawnee
Gloria Grande
Kiowa
Desirable
Cape Fear
Northern James
Native!
We have about 12-15 native trees in the mix to add to our bio-diversity. As we study their production, we'll share what we find. In 2015, we hand-harvested about 20 lbs from our five 10-15 year old trees.
