WEST POINT — Art Sanders never imagined he would become a pecan grower.
When he bought his land in Clay County back in 1999, it was supposed to be a place where he could eventually retire. But after the deed had already been signed, Sanders saw satellite images of the property – and the rows of pecan trees hidden in the overgrowth.
“I was buying this land with the intention of retiring from Chicago Fire Department, just to come out here and build a house,” Sanders told The Dispatch Friday. “I didn’t realize this was an… orchard that had been planted back in 1983.”
Originally from a family of sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta, Sanders said he thought he may eventually farm something like cotton or soybeans. But pecans were never a part of that picture.
During his childhood, Sanders moved away from Mississippi, first to Arkansas and then to St. Louis, Missouri, where he finished high school. After that, Sanders joined the U.S. Army, married his wife Linda and moved to Chicago, where he spent 31 years working for the Chicago Fire Department and rose to the rank of lieutenant.
But after retiring in 2013, Sanders moved to Clay County, where his land was waiting for him just south of West Point. Instead of building a house, Sanders and his wife decided to bring the 35 acres of overgrown pecan trees back to life, renaming the orchard Lindy’s Pecans.
When Sanders first saw the orchard, it was in “disarray.” The land had been abandoned for years, and competing trees and brush had grown throughout the area, choking the pecan trees that had previously been evenly spaced and irrigated. Sanders cleared out the land, leaving behind about 800 pecan trees with room to grow.
After that, Sander said, he knew he needed help to actually get the trees healthy enough to produce pecans, so he turned to the experts at Mississippi State University Extension Service.
MSU Extension allowed Sanders to get his soil tested for its nutrients, like lime and pH, which each have to be at the right levels before a tree can start growing pecans. Sanders also used MSU resources to run leaf analyses in his orchard, letting him know exactly what his trees needed to start producing nuts.
“Guessing is expensive,” Sanders said. “Guessing costs money. And you don’t want that.”
Sanders also started getting advice from MSU Extension experts, like Jeff Wilson, assistant professor and state Master Gardener coordinator.
“It’s always a blast to work with growers, especially ones like (Sanders) that are dedicated and willing to do everything that it takes to make it work,” Wilson said. “It’s always fun to see the success for them as they put all the time, effort and money into this and they get to see the rewards from it. It’s always wonderful to see that, as it not only helps them, but it helps the local community as well that they’re able to provide a service or a product.”
Sanders said Wilson was the first MSU Extension professor who came out to visit his orchard, and Wilson taught him how to graft pecan trees together to create new varieties of nuts.
Sanders has also worked with other MSU Extension professors and specialists, like Rebecca Melanson, John Byrd, Blake Layton and more, to help with issues like insects and weeds the orchard has faced.
“I hold a lot of respect for the professors who have been helping me out from Mississippi State University,” Sanders said.
Sanders also started attending pecan shows in different states, like Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona to learn more from presentations and classes, along with a week-long class at Texas A&M.
Finally, about seven years ago, Sanders said, his trees started producing pecans.
“I tell this story, my first crop – or at least I say it was my first crop – was three pecans. And they were all no good,” Sanders said with a laugh.
While a drought interfered with his crop for the past two years, Sanders’ orchard now typically produces thousands of pecans each year between October and December, including seven different varieties like Desirable, Pawnee, and Lakota.
Each year, Sanders uses a shaker to grip the tree and shake the nuts free, where a harvester can scoop them off the ground. Then, Sanders puts them through a cleaner, which discards nuts that are empty or too light, before the pecans are put through a sorter and bagged by size for sale.
While Sanders never dreamed of growing pecans, he has grown very passionate about their growth. He now sits on the board of directors for the Mississippi Pecan Growers Association.
But Sanders has also become passionate about pecans’ flavor. He likes mixing them into his cereal in the morning, he said, among other things.
“I eat pecans every day,” Sanders said.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
