'Kanza' Pecans, 'Enterprise' & 'GoldRush' Apples for Sale

   "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting." Psalm 126:1
   "Come taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him!" Psalm 34:8
   We hope everyone had a wonderful day of giving thanks and praise to God.  Those wanting to buy apples or pecans can taste some of the bounty that the Lord provides, since we give taste samples.  We're open our usual fall hours this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (see sidebar at left).
   We now have cracked 'Kanza' pecans for sale.  'Kanza' pecans are known for cracking out almost entirely in intact kernels, and our new high-efficiency pecan cracking machine cracks this variety so well that 2/3 of the shells are removed by the blower.  My husband Bill tested the 'Kanza' pecans that he'd bagged, and found they contained 78% pecan kernels and only 22% shells.  So this variety is very fast and easy for customers to pick out.

These cracked 'Kanza' pecans, collected in a bin after running through the pecan cracking machine and blower, contain 78% pecan kernels and only 22% shells, so they're very fast and easy to pick out.

   The 'Kanza' pecan bags contain at least  75% pecan kernels, so Bill weighs these bags to 4 pounds.  You get the equivalent of at least 6 pounds of in-shell pecans in each bag, and when you pick out the pecans, you get at least 3 pounds of nutmeats.
   Pecan harvest is still going on.  It requires 5 different machines to harvest pecans and prepare them for sale.  First, Bill uses a tractor-pulled stick rake to remove fallen branches from the pecan orchard floor.  Next he uses a tractor-mounted trunk shaker to shake pecans from the trees.  Then he drives a self-propelled pecan harvesting machine, which scoops up the pecans from the ground with rubber fingers, over the orchard.

A few days ago Bill harvested the young 'Kanza' pecan trees he'd planted around our house, after he'd harvested the pecans in our main 20-acre pecan planting.

   Then Bill runs the harvested pecans through a cleaning machine, and finally he runs cleaned pecans through the pecan cracking machine and blower.  Then he scoops cracked pecans into bags by hand and weighs them.  Each day he shakes pecan trees or harvests pecans, at our place or at the Kansas State University Pecan Experiment Field where he is director, and each night he cracks and bags our pecans for sale here.
   We still have harvested 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples, plus Coop 27 and Coop 34, for sale now.  For apple prices, scroll down two blog posts.  Those wanting more than 20 pounds of #1 apples should call 620-597-2450 a day or two ahead to order them, since the #1 apples have been selling as fast as I can sort them lately.
    For payment, we accept cash or checks, but NO credit cards or debit cards.  Please bring your checkbook or enough cash to cover the amount of apples and pecans you'll buy.

The 'Brandywine' red maples I planted 5 years ago to shade the sales building still have beautiful fall color.

'Enterprise' & 'GoldRush' Apples & 'Kanza' Pecans Keep All Winter

   We still have many 'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples for sale.  These apples taste much better than any sold in grocery stores, and are great for baking as well as fresh eating.  I give taste samples.
   'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' originated from an apple breeding program that began in 1945 at University of Illinois.  A cool, very wet spring had produced an epidemic of apple scab disease, which had defoliated every apple tree in the university's orchard.  Then-graduate student Fred Hough found a few trees in a genetic study, crosses of 'Rome Beauty' apple with the Siberian crabapple, Malus floribunda, that still had their leaves.  These trees were healthy because they had inherited a gene for high resistance (immunity) to apple scab disease from the Siberian crabapple parent.  These trees' fruit also took after the Siberian crabapple parent, so they were tiny.
   Dr. Hough began an apple breeding program that would continue for the rest of his life and beyond.  He began backcrossing one of the scab-immune selections with commercial apple cultivars, to increase fruit size in the progeny.  He involved a plant pathologist from Purdue University in the work, and when he graduated with his Ph.D. from University of Illinois and took a job at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Rutgers also joined this cooperative apple breeding program.
   Advanced selections from this cooperative breeding program were tested as Co-op 1,  Co-op 2, etc.  The first varieties released in the 1970's, 'Prima' and 'Priscilla', were given names beginning with PRI, for Purdue, Rutgers and Illinois.  'Enterprise', released in 1994, had the PRI in the middle of the name.  Starting with 'GoldRush', also released in 1994, breeders started giving cultivars descriptive names and dropped the PRI.
   'Enterprise' and 'GoldRush' apples, released 49 years after the scab-immune apple breeding program began, are also known for their great taste and excellent keeping ability in cold storage.  'Enterprise' apples keep well in our cooler or a fridge for 6 to 7 months, and 'GoldRush' apples keep well in our cooler or a fridge for 8 to 10 months.  So we'll have these apples for sale until June.

We still have many 'Enterprise' apples (front box),  'GoldRush' apples (second box), and cracked 'Kanza' pecans (in bags at back) for sale.

   We also still have cracked 'Kanza' pecans for sale.  My husband Bill cracks the pecans, blows off the loose shells, and then weighs the bags to 5 pounds.  So you get the equivalent of 6 pounds of in-shell pecans in each bag, and when you pick out the pecans, you get at least 3 pounds of nutmeats.  We should have cracked pecans for sale until mid-May.

   'Kanza' pecan is a USDA variety that was named by my husband Bill Reid, who is the director of Kansas State University's Pecan Experiment Field and the Extension Specialist on Pecans for the states of Kansas and Missouri.  All USDA pecan varieties are named after Native American tribes, because pecan is a native American crop.  Bill had tested this breeding selection, USDA 55-11-11, at Kansas State University's Pecan Experiment Field since 1981, and urged the USDA to release it and name it 'Kanza' after the Native American tribe for which the state of Kansas is named.  The USDA did so and released 'Kanza' in 1996.
   "'Kanza' pecan originated from a hand-pollinated cross between 'Major' and 'Shoshoni' made by Louis Romberg in 1955," Bill wrote on his blog, northernpecans.blogspot.com.  "Louis was the USDA's first pecan breeder hired way back in 1931.  The objective in making a cross between a northern cultivar ('Major') and a large, thin-shelled cultivar of southern origins ('Shoshoni') was to develop a new pecan cultivar with large nut size, thin shell and early ripening.  'Kanza' has characteristics from both parents. 'Kanza' inherited the tear-drop shape, thin shell and excellent shelling ability from its 'Shoshoni' parent.  From its 'Major' parent, 'Kanza' inherited scab resistance, a thick firm husk, early ripening, and great kernel flavor."

    "'Kanza' is among the best shelling pecans that can be grown.  After cracking, 'Kanza' nuts produce over 95% intact kernel halves, if the cracker is set properly.  The kernels are golden in color and very attractive (photo at left).  Get a customer to taste a 'Kanza' kernel, and you'll have them asking for the nut by name from now on."