We returned from Paris yesterday and went out to see the progress at the pecan grove this afternoon. Most of the plywood is on the roof of the Sr. residence, and all the studs are up.
Mike and Ronda’s house is coming along well. It’s “dried in” now, and is scheduled to be done in October.
Many of the pecan trees are loaded with pecans. The photo below shows a cluster of 7 pecans. Some of the trees are breaking due to the heavy load of fruit. One tree, show below, has split so bad it will need to be cut off and grafted again, so only the strong root will be saved. 
Some of the trees have grown slowly and have no fruit. Mike pulled some of these up and found that their tap root was growing in circles (see below). Young trees are started in buckets and the tap root is forced to grow in a circle. When the tree is removed from the bucket and planted, this root must be cut and the little that remains will usually straighten and go straight down. Evidently when these trees were planted this wasn’t done, so they have no depth of root, and cumber the ground. Unfortunately, we have quite a few trees that will have to be cut down… no amount of digging around them and fertilizing them would help.
Ken
