It's Raining Pecans! Hallelujah!

The Texas Pecan Drought Is Over!

Since the 2011 drought, pecan production has been at an all time low. This year's crop is back in force. The Tyler Morning Telegraph reports that Pecan Farmers in Bullard, TX are very pleased with the crop this year.
If you are like me, you buy nuts in the store without thinking for a moment about how they got into that bag. The article noted above referred to "Big Shaky" and I had to see what it meant. I found a wonderful video by Texas based, Royalty Pecan Farms documenting the agricultural story of Pecans. Watch the video:

The Pecan is a cornerstone in Texas agricultural economy. 

The first recorded year of pecan commercial production was 1910, when the state of Texas produced 5,832,267 pounds. Over the years the production of pecans has grown to nearly 30 million pounds a year, from Texas alone, equally income of nearly the same in dollars. The Lone Star State produced 25%-30% of the total pecan production in our nation.

Pecans are a health super food.

Maybe a pecan pie is not the best example of why pecans are good for you, but you gotta love a pecan pie. 

For a complete work up of the Nutritional Label for pecans visit Nutritiondata.self.com. They offer a  fantastic web tool providing nutritional information about any food you can think of.

Pecans are a rich source of energy, 690 calories per 100grams. They provide nutrients, minerals, antioxidents and vitamins essential for health and wellness. The pecan provides monounsaturated fatty acids which is the "good fat" that decreases cholesterol. Pecans offer antioxidents which defeat the toxins to help prevent infection and disease. They are high in Vitamin-E, B-Complex including riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, B-6 and folates. Pecans also contain minerals manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and selenium. 

Wow... all by eating a Pecan Pie... I'd like mine warm please!

Planting Trees In Texas - Texas A&M

Planting Trees is important to the health and prosperity of our planet. 

Texas is home to several organizations promoting tree populations. 

Texas Forestry Association Lists Nurseries for Seedlings

Texas A&M has a website solely focused on planting trees.
This presentation has diagrams for Planning, Knowing What to avoid and Tree Planting and Maintenance.

Texas A&M offers Planting Trees Tools

National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, sponsored by USDA.
One priority for this agency is "Soil Survey" They investigate the soil to determine which vegetation would grow best in specific counties. If residents and counties are going to spend time and money planting trees, they better be sure the soil will be able to support them.

If you are like me, you know nothing about best practices when it comes to plants. Fortunately we live in during the age of technology. We can go to YouTube and learn just about anything we need. Here is a video about planting trees by the National Gardening Association. I liked it because it not only shows how but also tells you why.

Texas Pollen Forecast

The Weather Channel has a fantastic interactive pollen forecast.

Click on this Pecan Tree to view Current Pollen Forecast for Dallas.

It is a fantastic feature. You simply can enter your zip code and it tells you what the daily pollen forecast are for your area. You can select Tree Pollen, Grass Pollen or Weed Pollen Counts.

Your allergies have a direct relationship with your Immune System. When foreigners are present in your body, you immune systems cranks up to defend your body. It uses watering eyes, runny noses, coughing (basically cold like symptoms) to get the foreign bodies out. What we continue to realize is that the body must be exposed to allergens in order to be able to defend itself. Allergena does just that with its region, or ZONE, specific drops. The drop are "proactive" not reactive. They encourage the creation of immune strength so your body will be prepared when "attacked" by allergens.

Allergena Zone 5 - Covers Trees, Weeds and Grass in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Clicking on the links above, you can compare which pollen counts are up vs. the long list of allergens Zone 5 can assist in building a defense.