Saturday, July 19, 2014

Where To Find Pecans For Sale

By Coleen Torres


Nuts of all kinds have loads of nutritional value. Pecans for sale are no exception. These tasty, hickory morsels grown in the deep southern United States contain antioxidants, plant sterols and omega-6 fatty acids. Eating a small handful every day can help to reduce cholesterol as well as some cholesterol-fighting pharmaceuticals. Scientists have not yet commented on whether butter pecan ice cream or pecan pie fulfill this important function.

Botanically, the pecan tree is deciduous; the pecan itself is not a nut, but what is called a drupe. A drupe is a kind of fruit with a skin and a mesocarp, or flesh, surrounding a hardened endocarp which contains a seed. This seed is what we eat and what we call a nut, or a pecan. Other, more familiar, drupes include apricots, cherries, plums, nectarines, damsons and peaches.

The seeds of the pecan drupe have a sweet, buttery taste. They may be eaten fresh or cooked into pies and other sweet desserts. Pecan is an Algonquin word meaning a "nut that you need to crack with a rock". Burned, the wood is used to flavor barbecued meat. Pecan tree wood is good for furniture-making and for making into hardwood flooring.

Albany, in the southwest of Georgia, is the center of this state's production of this delightful nut. Other Georgian delicacies include peaches, peanuts, cotton, rye, timber (especially pine), tobacco, hogs and poultry. Atlanta, Georgia, is the home of one of America's (and the world's) favorite cola drinks. Georgia also gave us President Jimmy Carter, the novel, "Gone With the Wind, " and "The Dukes of Hazzard."

The heart of Dixie, Alabama, is also known as the yellowhammer state and also the cotton state. It is also a good source of pecans. Other gifts from Alabama are soybeans, peaches, peanuts and sorghum. Around 20 million people visit Alabama every year; of these, 100,000 come from around the world, mainly, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan. Workers from Alabama were responsible for building the rocket ship that first carried astronauts to the moon.

Iowa is probably the northernmost of the pecan-producing states. This is America's heartland. The largest producer of corn and ethanol, Iowa's other main products include hogs, soybeans, oats and cattle. Other healthy economic sectors are finance and insurance. Iowa is the only state bordered on two sides by rivers.

Louisiana is another pecan-growing state. Along with the treasured nut, this state has the New Orleans Saints, the Superdome, Mardis Gras and a fascinating geological history. Louisiana is also the only state to model its state and local election practices on modern France. New Orleans is also the home of the praline, a sweet delicacy made from, you guessed it, pecans.

Two months out of each year, October and November, are spent preparing for the annual Pecan Festival. First, in October, the Louisiana Pecan Festival Beauty and Beau pageant is held to name a king and queen to rein over November's Pecan Festival. Between sixty and seventy thousand people attend every year. The amount of tourist dollars they bring in could hardly be described as peanuts.




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