Michigan Pecan Nuts and Scions

Currently unavailable The Most Northern Pecan Strain-Grown from Trees that Produce Nuts Yearly in Southern Michigan

High in Oil-Rich in Flavor - Short Season Trees Ripen Nuts in Starting in Early October

Created by using wild tree germplasm from across the U.S. from Northern Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa. We began by using seed nuts from selections like Voiles and Foster looking for the most vigorous trees with no winter damage.  Our seed selections are based primarily on the early ripening characteristics. The northern pecan trees are hardy and can take -25 F easily. It is the heat units throughout the summer season that begin the filling of the nuts from milk state to the edible nut meat stage.  We feel fortunate to grow these as progenitors of a new generation of the most northern hardy pecan since many of the original parent trees have since perished on the Mississippi Flood Plain. Our orchard in southern Michigan contains about 100 fruiting trees which almost always ripens nuts starting in September and October. It has happened though that a few cool summers has made it so the nuts did not fill properly. 

The high oil nuts are far superior in flavor to their southern cultivated cousins.  No insect or disease problems. On average it takes 10 to15 years to fruit from seedling. Fastest growing of the hickory family. Can grow in sand, clay, wet or dry soil. Full sun. 

"Michigan" This selected seedling from the original Northern Nut Growers Association has shown the greatest promise of an individual tree with the largest of yields. The small narrow nuts are formed and drop beginning in September into October. They always ripen their nuts and have the highest yield of any seedling in my plantings. "Michigan" is a very short season variety much shorter than all other so called northern pecans. My farms location is in a very cool and cloudy climate that prevents even the ripening to the highest brix levels in Concord grapes once in a while. This selection is one of many that came from the NNGA and University of Nebraska Professor Guftason who was instrumental in finding the most northern selections and putting them in a more prominent test orchards. Really this got started by a few members of NNGA like John Gordon, Douglas Campbell and Gary Fernald who really knew where to look along the Mississippi /river valley and inland to collect and distribute these nuts. There were many others who did this only out of their love for this tree. "Michigan" is an ultra northern variety and can easily fruit in zone 5 even cool and cloudy zone 5 and maybe more. 

A lot of the seedlings on my farm were the Voiles #2 and Foster. But many people found pecans from Minnesota, Illinois and elsewhere where pecans normally do not grow.I even went to the trouble to visit the James Pecan farm and Shepherds nearby to grow pecans from that region too. The real hero in this story is Bill Reid who realized the potential of this crop and brought it out to many farmers who to this day are adopting these more northern, high oil and totally delicious pecans. This is a tree crop to dream about.