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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Iowa Native PECAN Seed

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  • From: Chex <chex.rice@gmail.com>
  • To: mIEKAL aND <qazingulaza@gmail.com>, nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Iowa Native PECAN Seed
  • Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:38:35 -0700

mIEKAL aND, I'm curious if you have harvested any pecans yet. I'm
sure there are alot more pecan varieties and such that can survive the
cold but will never ripen a pecan in a shorter growing season. That
is one of the traits that the far northern pecan has. I'd be really
excited to hear that your trees have been ripening pecans.

Chris
zone 5a, IL



On Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 11:51 AM, mIEKAL aND <qazingulaza@gmail.com> wrote:
> For the record the hardy pecans I planted 12 years ago are doing fine
> in southwestern WI & we are definitely not 5a & maybe not even 4b...
> We get 30 below every 3-4 years.
>



> On Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 1:43 PM, Chex <chex.rice@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I am passing this information along.  This should be of interest to
>> anyone in USDA zone 5a especially Iowa and Northern Illinois where the
>> far northern pecan is an increasingly rare native plant.
>>
>> Chris Rice
>> zone 5a, IL
>>
>> ****************************************************
>>
>> Iowa Native PECAN Seed For Sale
>>
>> Gary Fernald - Nut Tree Evangelist -
>>
>> President Iowa Nut Growers Association
>>
>>
>>
>>      Pecans will grow and produce in the north, in fact, they are
>> native all along the Mississippi River Valley to Dubuque, Iowa. The
>> pecan strains “native to Iowa” means they already know what hardy is.
>> As they say, it is in their genes. They have proven themselves capable
>> of growing and producing even further north into Wisconsin and even
>> parts of Canada.
>>
>>      I have a limited  supply of the pecan cultivar “Mullahy” which
>> has proven to be the best sized and best cracking northern native
>> pecan in our trials.  I located the “Mullahy” pecan on the Jim Mullahy
>> Farm in 1976, after returning home from the Northern Nut Growers
>> Association’s 67th Annual Meeting in Brownwood, TX.  The USDA pecan
>> breeders had inspired me to search out northern early ripening types
>> for their breeding work. Graft wood cuttings were collected the next
>> spring and seed nuts were planted and evaluated for the next few years
>> until a bolt of lightning blew the original tree to smithereens. From
>> those first Mullahy grafts other trees were propagated and are now
>> producing crops across in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Indiana, and
>> south.
>>
>>      The interest and exploration for northern pecans spawned other
>> activities and intrigued others. Canadian NNGA members got involved in
>> exploring for the most northern natives. Over 100 pecans near
>> Belleview, IA. were located and tagged as research trees.  In 1979, a
>> group of NNGA members collected a good supply of seed from these
>> remaining hardy stands of pecans for a seed distribution. The revenues
>> generated help funded the first northern pecan research trial with 57
>> grafted clones at the University of Nebraska.  In subsequent years, I
>> have planted 5 separate preservation plantings (4 non-gratis) on Corp
>> of Engineers ground from Muscatine, IA. to Galena, IL. My goal was
>> that these trees provide a publicly accessible in-situ orchard of
>> native pecans as a seed resource for future plantings. These preserve
>> plantings, mostly unmanaged, have been sorely tested by mother nature.
>>  They have survived the spring frosts, the cold winters, the drought
>> years, and flooding (remember 93) as well as the continual threat of
>> deer browsing.  Despite all the odds many of the trees are producing.
>> GPS locations will be available in the future.
>>
>>      I thought in this year of 2009, which marks the 100th
>> anniversary of the NNGA, (meeting information available at
>> http://www.northernnutgrowers.org/), it would be appropriate to take
>> another step toward the goal of breeding even better northern pecans.
>> This Mullahy seed  offered is open pollinated from an orchard of the
>> best early ripening commercial cultivars and should produce “some”
>> even more exceptional progeny.  Forrest Keeling Nursery is growing
>> some for me and I will offer these seedling trees this fall. Seed
>> packets with planting instructions and larger quantities of stratified
>> pecan seed are FOR SALE this spring.  I have made it a life’s work of
>> love to find, select, preserve, and improve these northern early
>> ripening pecans. This is truly an opportunity for you to have a part
>> in breeding improved northern hardy pecans. The prospect of hitting
>> the jackpot with a commercial super pecan for the north are real.
>>
>>
>> garyfernald@yahoo.com  or Gary Fernald, 416 East Broadway, Monmouth, ILL.
>> 61462
>>
>>
>> 20 seeds  @ $10.00 ppd
>




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