11.21- PEA cans

Gill-boots make pecan gathering more comfortable after recent rains

It is the pecan-gathering time of year in these parts.

I approached the woman featured in today's photo, and asked if she minded me taking some shots of her gathering "p'CAWNS," as they are called in Texas.

She said I couldn't do that, but she wouldn't mind if I took pictures of her gathering "PEA-cans."

However you say it, they sure make great pies! Not bad straight-up, either.

I've seen a variety of tools and methods employed on this task... some folks are ok with the bend-down-pick-up-place-in-bag method, while the more serious gatherers use tools as featured today.

This woman was using a "slinky" style gatherer... push it down on top of a nut, and the nut springs into the slinky trap.

Others use hamster-style balls on the end of a stick... push it along, the nuts pop through the wire into the ball.

I have also seen a number of sticks with "grabbers" on the end, linked to a lever on the handle of the stick... grab the nut, dump it in the bucket without bending over.

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