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!