CRACKING THE CASE OF
VIRGINIA’S ‘OTHER’ NUTS BY ADAM CULLER
S
tanding at attention, centuryold pecan trees line the backyard of Donald and Diane Horsley’s home at Land of Promise Farms in Virginia Beach. Diane Horsley isn’t sure who planted the trees, but she knows the trees were already mature by the time her parents, Ralph and Irene Frost, purchased the farm in 1959. Growing up under their shade, she says she used to harvest the pecans as a chore. Now the chore belongs to the people, and guests arrive from all corners of Virginia to pick pecans each fall. Producing up to 1,000 pounds a year, the pecan trees at Land of Promise Farms offer a rare Virginia-grown alternative in a snacking industry dominated by peanuts. “You’d be surprised at the number of people who see we have pecans and call wanting to be sure they can get in,” Horsley said. “Some people like the larger, hard-shell Stuart pecans, and other people like the medium papershell pecans they can just crack in their hands. We have both varieties.”
Peanuts nudge out specialty nuts
A product of peanuts’ prevalence in Southeast Virginia, specialty nuts like pecans aren’t widely produced in the Old Dominion. While the heat of Southeast Virginia provides a suitable climate for growing nuts like almonds, pecans and pistachios, peanuts have laid claim on the land since the 1840s. Peanuts are legumes that grow underground, but thrive in the same soils as tree nuts. Instead of commercial production, most nuts in Virginia grow naturally. 8
CULTIVATE
Land of Promise Farms Virginia Beach PECANS NICOLE ZEMA
