pecans and punk rock

Last fall, I ordered two pecan trees, and Cliff planted them alongside our driveway.  I don't know anything about pecans, but I thought it would be fun to raise our own nuts.  We have plenty of black walnuts in our woods, but they are so difficult to crack and pick out.  And I have a problem with eating them as fast as I pick them out.

This spring I watched the seedling trees and waited, but all I saw was the same two bare sticks we had planted.  Every once in awhile I'd bend down and try to break a piece off the end of one of the "sticks" to see if it was dead.  They always remained supple, so Cliff refrained from mowing them down.

The little peach tree we had planted at the same time grew leaves in April, but the pecan seedlings were bare.  In May, still nothing.  And through the month of June, all we had in the way of pecan trees was two sticks.  We sometimes discussed the matter, agreeing that the little trees had died... but something made us leave them there.

Two weeks ago, with very little hope in my heart, I once again approached our pitiful little sticks, and did a double-take:  Was that a leaf on one?  Yes!  And a couple of days later, the other twig also sprouted leaves.  It's probably just the nature of pecan seedlings not to put on their first leaves till mid-summer, but it was like a resurrection from the dead to me, and I felt like dancing around the yard in celebration.

Now, we're on the northern boundary of the area where pecans grow, so I don't know what sort of crops we'll get.  But at least I know there's a chance of having my own pecans!