Sunnyland Farms

Today I'm talking with Staci at Sunnyland Farms. You can follow on Facebook as well.

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00:00
This is Mary Lewis at A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a comment. Thank you. Today I'm talking with Staci at Sunnyland Farms in Georgia. Good morning, Staci. How are you? Good morning. I'm great. Thank you. Good. Is it lovely in Georgia? Because it's really chilly here in Minnesota. You know, it's...

00:28
cold for Georgia actually, not normally this cold. So I'm kind of enjoying it actually. Well, I would be enjoying the cold and except for the fact that I've had some kind of upper respiratory things since Saturday. And when I go outside, I start coughing because the cold hits me and I'm like, Oh, okay. So sorry. Sorry.

00:51
Sorry listeners, people out there, my voice is not the best it could be today, but that's okay, because Staci's gonna tell us all about what she does and about Sunnyland Farms. Yeah.

01:02
Well, my name is Staci Wilson and I am from Sunnyland Farms, a Georgia pecan farm. We're way down here in southwest Georgia in the city of Albany. And we do say pecan many different ways down here. You will hear pecan, you will hear pecan, and it's truly tomato, tomato.

01:29
And our farm actually started and was planted in the 1920s. And my connection to the farm is actually my husband's great grandfather planted the farm, planted the groves and the trees. And then his grandparents started to mail the pecans to their friends. And then the catalog mail order business grew from there.

01:58
His dad began, moved back in the 70s to join the family. And I'll talk about him in a little while, but he had some pretty awesome innovations for the industry. And then Alex and I moved back about 10 and a half years ago. And I've been in the hospitality baking industry. So it really coincided with.

02:24
a desire to live a simpler life and also join the family business. So that's just a little rundown. I love it when there's co-ink-a-dinks when your background matches up with the thing you're doing now too. And I always kind of disliked pecan pie when I was a kid because it was so incredibly sweet. And then

02:52
I had some, um, couple of years back that someone made from scratch and they were like, you have to try it. It's not like the store bought super sweet kind. And I said, okay. And I took a bite and I was like, this is not pecan pie. And she said, well, yes, it is. And I said, no, no, no, you don't understand. This is wonderful. Right. So, so I'm a convert now as long as it's made in a way that's not super, super sticky, sweet. Just, that's the only, uh,

03:21
It's the only pecan story I have. Right. And that's interesting because the industry itself is known for the pecan pie. And it's tried in the last because pecans are indigenous and it's something that Americans can be very proud of that this is one of our native nuts and has more antioxidants than most nuts. So

03:50
The industry itself is really trying to get that nutritional information. Even the American Pecan Council, their marketing motto is beyond the pie, right? So anyway, using high quality pecans is always the key, in my opinion, especially for the pies. But anyway.

04:15
What else would you like to know about we I can get into the To the planting and the different varieties and and all of that Well, we can start there and then you can tell me a little bit about the the history of the farm Yeah, absolutely Yeah, it is fascinating and it's the history of it is just the the pecans themselves are indigenous to the southeast native and it was a

04:45
staple in Native American diets. Georgia actually is the top producer pretty much in the world. We are normally outproduced sometimes by Mexico. Pecans love heat and they love humidity. So, you know, Louisiana, Texas, all of those places, Georgia, obviously. But Georgia, I feel like, you know, just the

05:13
The growing conditions are even better because of our humidity. Pecans themselves love humidity and heat. So anyway, our particular farm sits on about, it's about 1,700 acres of groves. And the farm was planted in the 1920s. And what a lot of people aren't aware of is that pecans are more than just one variety and the different.

05:43
just like a, you know, a grape for wine or whatnot. And the different varieties have different oil contents and the higher the oil content, the better tasting the pecan. And just a little side note, because of the high oil content, you should definitely store your pecans or any nut really in your freezer.

06:09
A lot of people don't know that because you freeze that oil content, whereas if it's sitting at room temperature, the oils are evaporating. So there's a little tip for you and your listeners. So the original acreage was planted with three different varieties, which were Stewart, Slice, and Moors. So those were the original pecan variety that were planted in our orchards.

06:38
And when my husband's father moved back in the 70s, they pulled some of the moors out of the groves and replanted with a variety you might be familiar with, which is the desirable variety. And so if you see some of the larger pecan halves, not like the small ones, the very, pretty much the really large ones, it's most likely a desirable.

07:08
somewhat developed into what it was because it was somewhat disease resistant and also big. That's what differentiates a Georgia pecan really or even a Southeastern pecan versus its Western cousins grown in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico. Nothing wrong with those either. It's just that the different varieties of course, just like a wine variety.

07:38
you know, just develops better in different growing conditions. So our orchards are now mostly desirables. We do have some Elliot's and Elliot's are considered in the industry, they're considered junior halves. And they're really, really small and cute. That's what I love to make pecan pie with Elliot's because they're really small. You don't have to like cut them up into pieces.

08:06
And a little insider trick too, is if you can get your hand on junior halves, use those for your Thanksgiving pies because Elliot's have the highest oil content of any pecan. And of course, again, oil equals flavor. So they're kindy, but they're the best. So if you can ever get your hands on junior halves, they're the best. So most of our orchards now are desirable in Elliot's haves.

08:36
and something that a lot of people don't know about pecans is that of course they're trees and they're grown in orchards and how we harvest the pecan we harvest. Harvest normally starts from around in you know October, mid-October through pretty much Christmas we're harvesting and

08:59
We harvest by a machine called a shaker and it looks like a giant tractor with a claw on it. That's the only way I can describe it. And it really, it just gently, it holds the base of the pecan tree and shakes it gently. And there are videos of this online, of course, if anybody wants to look it up. It's pretty cool because you see just this gentle vibration at the base of the tree and the nuts.

09:29
just fall to the ground. And then we leave the nuts on the ground for just two or three days, just to let them rest for a minute, which is kind of a scary part of the harvesting process because of course squirrels and all other kinds of creatures love nuts. So anyway, so we, about two days into the process, we go through with what we call a sweeper and we sweep all of the pecans into nice little neat rows.

09:57
And then we come through and picks the nuts up and they go into a processing plant where we, you know, of course pick out the branches and things like that. And then one thing about Sunnyland that's a little different than other pecan farmers is that a lot of pecan farmers would stop in that process. Like once they get the whole nut, because a nut, you know, it's in shell. So you have two halves in a pecan. You get two halves out of a pecan.

10:27
But a lot of growers stop right there in the process and then shift their nuts off to be shelled because it's not a full product yet unless you wanna sell and shell. But Sunnyland actually has a shelling plant on site. And so our nuts go over to our shelling plant. And we just like that because, you know, we've always been extremely committed to high, high quality and we can keep our hands, we can truly say that, you know.

10:55
our pecans, we have our hands in the entire process from tree to table really, you know? And so when we go into the shelling plant, the nut is then cracked into a half and then sometimes we go into, we grade them down. Like, you know, if we wanna do halves with a particular lot, we break it down into large pieces, small pieces, the things you see that people buy for smoothies and shakes and things like that, all the way down to pecan meal.

11:24
which is also a very nutritious alternative to flour, if you wanna use it in baking and whatnot. But anyway, so that's a little bit of the process of how we move into just selling even our haves, which is our main business still. We sell a lot of baked goods now that we make in-house and handmade candies and things like that. And of course we sell other nuts as well now, but pecans are.

11:53
are what we, our original nuts. So that's a little bit about the growing portion. One thing I will say that we're proud of too is that pecans really only flourish and grow to standard when they have enough water and something that we learned in Georgia is they really need 40 to 50 inches of rain.

12:23
per year to fill out appropriately. And Alex's dad, Larry Wilson, I call him the farmer aficionado because he just knows everything about pecans, but he implemented one of the leading technologies for irrigation systems for the orchards. So he was one of the first farmers in the Southeast at least to implement that.

12:50
irrigation system to make sure those pecans were filling out properly and getting being able to get to market The way they they did in like the 80s. So anyway, that's a little bit a little bit of pecan growing history if you will Okay that that left me with a couple of questions When when you put a baby pecans? Sapling in the ground. Mm-hmm. How long till it produces nuts?

13:17
That's the hardest part. It normally will not produce until year five to seven. So five to seven is you might get a small harvest between year five and seven. You really probably aren't gonna be up until like top production to 10 years. Wow. Yeah. So when you lose the, we really suffered through Hurricane Michael. We lost a lot of trees. It was heartbreaking.

13:45
And it gave us an opportunity though, we tried to look at the silver lining and to replant with some of the newer varietals that are even more disease resistant that some of the scientists have been able to craft. But those trees, I mean, Michael wasn't that long ago, those trees aren't producing yet. And a lot of, unfortunately, a lot of Georgia farmers that were hit.

14:11
this past hurricane and in Hurricane Michael were really affected because we're very susceptible to weather because of that reason, because it takes so long for them to produce anything. Okay. And how big is a mature pecan tree? Oh gosh, it really varies. It really varies. But I mean, if you think of a very mature oak tree, that's probably a comparable size.

14:39
Holy crap, I didn't realize they got that big. Oh yeah, no they're huge. They're huge. They're very, very big. A very mature 100 year old. I mean they can, and they, we have some 100 year old trees. Yeah, we do have some, but yeah, they last, they will grow very, very large. Okay, and then the other question I have is, we have wild plum that grows here in Minnesota. Is there wild?

15:06
Are there wild pecan trees in the south? Yes, there are. Okay, and are they any good or are they just... Yeah, some people will say they are. I mean, some people definitely do, definitely still eat their, you know, in their yard pecans. I mean, they might not be particularly large or tasty, but yeah, I know a lot of people that collect in their yards, especially down here, and sit outside and crack their own pecans for sure. Okay, I was just curious because...

15:35
The wild plums here in Minnesota are about the size of, just full the size of a golf ball. And they're really yummy if you get them at the right time. They're super sweet. But if you don't get them at exactly the right point of ripeness, they're very sour. I was going to say, I was going to think they would be sour, but yeah. Or they've just tipped into the beginning of the fermenting process that happens with fruit.

16:05
And so if you don't get them right when they're perfect, you really don't want to eat them. They're kind of yucky. But they make fabulous jam. I bet. We have a mayhaw berry here in Georgia. I don't know if you've heard of mayhaw jelly. No. It's a very tart berry. It makes an excellent jelly. We actually sell some of it in our catalog as well. Just trying to keep it native to Georgia. Yeah. OK. So.

16:33
When this started, boy, I hate the way my voice sounds right now. When this started, you guys were giving Peekhands away and now you're a fully fledged business. Correct. So my husband's grandparents met post World War II. And of course, his father already had the farm down here and they lived in Atlanta.

17:03
And they moved down here and decided, they tried a couple of different things, to be honest with you. They tried to grow cattle, et cetera. And they started to ship some pecans as gifts and add to their college friends and whatnot in the Northeast. And they figured out, wait a second, a lot of people in the North and other parts of the country do not have access to these fresh pecans. And this was in 1948.

17:32
So they figured that out. Like their friends were like, these are amazing. So they started to mail order just pecans, just pecans, just Sunnyland pecans. And that's where Sunnyland Farms was born. And they started to, that's where the business started. And then they morphed into, you know, creating a catalog yearly. And in the catalog they sold, of course, I think originally they sold halves.

17:59
pieces and then in-shell. And we still do sell in-shell. A lot of people still like to crack their own. I prefer to buy them completely processed because it's like a tradition to sit around and crack pecans down here. But anyway, so then they started to, well, if they like pecans, then we're gonna start selling pecan pie.

18:22
and pecan brittle and pecan pralines and all of those wonderful old-fashioned candies. We're going to make them the candies that we make on the farm just as delicious as our pecans. We're going to use real butter and fresh eggs and all that. It just continued to flourish from there. They started to, like I said before, replanting the groves with better pecans.

18:50
really flushing out the shelling and keeping industry standard really. But yeah, they started to sell to my grandmother-in-law, her college buddies in New York. So that's really how it started. Okay. So now you guys, people can order pecans from you on your website, number one, right? Correct.

19:19
Are you like selling bagged pecans to grocery stores and stuff too? We tend to not sell to grocery stores and I'll tell you why. Grocery stores really tend to buy the, you know, because pecans are a commodity, like they tend to buy the cheapest of the cheap and they do not shelve them properly. They don't keep them at proper temperature.

19:47
And I mean, we would sell anything wholesale, like if you, you know, but even our wholesale is pretty high quality. So I just looked at the back of a Publix pecan bag and those Publix pecans, they're buying from Mexico. So they're trying to buy the, and there's nothing wrong with them. They're just not like the largest highest oil content and they haven't kept them at proper temperature again, which keeps the oil evaporates. So anyway.

20:16
We sell wholesale, if you think, we sell our wholesale pecans to other candy companies that want like the best of the best, other food providers. And we've even sold internationally. We've sold our latest. We used to sell a lot to China actually. And then now recently we've sold other places in Europe.

20:44
And so we've really fleshed out that wholesale side of the business as well. And especially people nowadays really want high quality things that, that, you know, are cared for from top to bottom. And that's how we sell our pecans. And we actually just opened, this is something that my husband and I've done, opened our first satellite retail store in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

21:11
and introducing our pecans to a wider market. And really truly, if you try like a supermarket pecan and you try one of our pecans, you really will see the difference. Okay. That's what I was wondering about because I've bought pecans at grocery stores and I've bitten into them and been like, yeah. Yeah.

21:33
Well, they're rancid because they've most likely been, any pecan sitting out in like the fruit section that's not even being refrigerated, they have them by like the croutons really. Yeah. They're rancid because all of the oil is evaporated and they're stale and rancid. Yeah, this may be why I haven't ever been a fan of eating them. Right. Once in a while they're okay, but I'm not getting them all the time. Right.

21:58
And honestly, I can say the same thing about any nut. I really love honey roasted peanuts. And I think the only reason I love them is because of the honey roasting, not because of the peanut itself. So I need to get a better quality peanut and pecan, obviously. You have to send me some and you'll be sold for life. I'll be a converse. Not to mention, like pecans have more antioxidants than like a cup of pecans versus a cup of blueberries.

22:26
They have more antioxidants than even blueberries. Crazy. Yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah. So, so on this podcast, I talked to a lot of people who grow produce and we're always talking about how store-bought produce isn't as good as, as like, you know, the stuff that the neighbors grow in their gardens or I grow in my garden. And it hadn't occurred to me that peanuts or I'm sorry, any nut would fall under the same thing that you guys are putting your heart and soul into this. So.

22:56
course your product is better. Right. And I think that that is something that's missing, particularly on the American market. I think it's one of the last like really ingredient, farm-grown ingredients that you still just walk by, you know, the grocery store. They have like, you know, the nut plastic thing where you can get like a cup of nuts, you know? And like all of those nuts are like dark, like a real fresh pecan is going to be like light golden brown, not dark, not it's going to be really, really light.

23:26
Fresh looking and not like dried up at all. Yeah so it must be really pretty when you have like a bucket of Shell be of very much so very much so for sure Cool. Um, and the other thing I wanted to say is that you sound so I Don't know so warm immersed and so happy in what you're doing when you're talking about this there's a joy in your voice and

23:54
I don't think I'm misreading that. I think you're actually enjoying this thing that you're doing. Oh, absolutely. I mean, I grew up, you know, I grew up in mostly cities and my husband's down from here. And when I met him, I just really appreciated the roots that he spoke about this place. And I just think it kind of goes back to a simpler time. And

24:22
We're connected to the community in a way that I just, you know, you don't see that often, especially being multi-generational. You know, we're really connected to this community. We really try to give back and we really try to, I mean, usually when we have an employee, we have a really high employee tenure, you know, usually a lifetime employee. So we have, you know, we really are a family, a family business.

24:50
And we mean that like from employees to Wilson's whatever, and it's just a different lifestyle. And it is really fulfilling for sure, for sure. We're really glad. I'm really glad that we, and when I met my husband, he was actually in, he was often his 20s doing his own thing. And I asked him, he was in the financial business, and I asked him, will you ever go back? Will you ever move back to the farm? Will you ever?

25:19
And he could never say no. He could never say, absolutely not, I'm not going to do that. Like he always had this like look in his eye, like, you know what, you know, after, you know, I've kind of proven myself, because he wanted to get out there, of course, and you know, prove himself, but he would never rule it out. And one thing that he did say was, you know, there's just a connection to the land and the people. And I think that that's, you know, that route, you know, having those routes is so important, especially in this day and age, you know? So yeah, for sure.

25:49
Okay, good. I was afraid that I was hearing things, but I didn't think I was because you sounded so happy. Yeah. Okay. So I have probably two more questions. Okay. When do the pecan trees bloom? They bloom in the spring. Yeah. They bloom in the spring and they're beautiful blooms. They bloom in the spring, but then we don't harvest until October normally. And summer is such an important time.

26:18
you know, they desperately need that those 40 to 50 inches coming in, you know, of rain. And so if we have a dry summer, we pretty much know what the crop is going to look like. But again, like because of the irrigation that was that was placed, we can, you know, somewhat control it. But, you know, it's you can't control the weather. And, you know, fresh rain will, you know, outproduce irrigation any day. So in the summers when we're really like, we know what we're

26:47
we're getting into in the fall by July, normally. Yeah. So what month are you saying for spring that they bloom? Because spring is relative here. Very much so, yeah. I mean, probably like late March. Okay. Yeah. So it's coming. It's coming in a couple months for you guys. It's coming. It is. Okay. Yeah. Our apple trees don't bloom until, oh, at the earliest mid-May. Oh, yeah. And they can...

27:15
There's been years where apples don't bloom until June in Minnesota. So that's why I wanted to get an idea because it must be really nice to have spring hit in March. It is, but it means that summer comes so quickly and it's so hot quickly. Yeah. Which they love the pecans, love the heat, so I can't complain. I will say my favorite time in the pecan groves, and if you're ever down in this area of the country, please come because the groves are just beautiful.

27:44
Um, is winter. I love walking through the groves when the trees are resting, you know, they're resting and you can just, I don't know, there's just something very peaceful about it in the winter time. Do they lose their leaves at all? Or do they keep them? Okay. So it's just, you can see them, you can see the real mistletoes up in the, you know, the real mistletoes up in the trees. Oh, awesome. They're beautiful. I love that people like try to buy them from us. Can we go out in your groves and cut down some mistletoes in the winter time? You know,

28:14
Okay, and then what do the blooms smell like? I mean, clearly if you have 1700 acres, it must smell amazing when they bloom. Yeah, just really, really sweet and grassy, you know, really earthy. They don't smell like particularly fruity or perfumey, but they're very just earthy and grassy and a little bit mossy, I would say. Okay, and are they white? Are they white? Yes.

28:41
I know nothing about pecan trees. I know about almond trees a little bit, because I've read about it, but I don't know, pecan trees have been under the radar for me for some reason, probably because they don't grow here. Right. Okay, so what's the future look like for you guys? Are you just going to keep it on, or do you have a plan? Yeah, just really, we're really involved nationwide with the American Pecan Association, and really, like what you just said,

29:11
really educating Americans to this indigenous nut. It's one of, it's our pride and joy, and it's something that, just educating more Americans as to what a quality pecan looks like, and more awareness around, again, outside of the, using it as a snacking food, because it's such a healthy food. So it's just really increasing that awareness across the board, for sure. And then,

29:40
for us specifically, using that freshness to, you know, just really develop our product line of candies and cakes and things like that, that people are looking for, you know, that homegrown goodness, you know? So that's what we're focused on for the future. Nice. And my last question, which is gonna probably be six different answers for you, is what can pecans be used for? You said you could grind them for flour. What else?

30:06
Okay, so pecans can be used, pecans can be used. I love to use them in smoothies. They add just this nutty freshness and they actually really up the nutritional content in any smoothie. I love to use small pecan pieces on chicken. I like to bake chicken and crust it with like a nice pecan crust mixed with a little bit of flour.

30:34
And if you really want to up the ante, we use an indigenous gallberry honey, and I like to finish the pecan breasts, the pecan chicken breasts with a little drizzle of honey. So you have that crunch, that saltiness and that sweet. And then again, of course, in baking, I mean, who I just this morning, I'm developed, I develop a lot of our recipes. And just this morning, I'm making a pull apart, like breakfast bread with some pecan pieces.

31:02
um, pecans really are so versatile in baking in general. I mean, any kind of cookie or cake adding some pecans just adds like a really nice salty crunch. And one suggestion I would make, um, you know, a lot of people go too sweet in their pecan pies, just back to the, you know, back to the beginning. Um, just make sure you're using the freshest you can find. And also, um, my biggest thing is to make sure you're using salt in your baked goods because

31:29
It will, it just, I mean, your baked goods need that season as well. And we use, I just use salted butter in our pecan pie that we sell in our catalog. And people are just like, oh, this pecan pie is so good. And I always tell people it's because we use salted butter in our pecan pie, because you need that flavor contrast with the custard and the pie to make it, you know, if it's too sweet, it's only hitting one note on your palate, right? So.

31:55
That's my biggest. So yeah, we get we started with pecan pie. We're finishing with pecan pie, right? Yeah, absolutely. And what most people don't know is that salt tempers sugar, right? Sugar sugar isn't meant to be kick you in the face It's supposed to be a flavor and salt Salt brings out the flavor of sugar, but it kills the overkill right right interesting

32:24
Yeah, I don't know why it doesn't. That's why I like it then. Yeah, I don't know how it works. It's science. I know what it is. I just haven't. It just works. Yep. All right, Stacey. Thank you so much for your time tonight. Well, thank you so much. It was such a pleasure and we'll have to send you some of those fresh pecans. I would love that. Yes, ma'am. We'll get on it. All right. You have a great day. All right. Thanks. You too.