Kyle Maddox grew up amongst the pecan trees. His dad, Jim, worked on a sprawling orchard on the Eastern Shore, just adjacent to the family’s house, spending his time caring for the crop throughout the year and tending to a few of his own trees. From a young age, Kyle was right by his side, helping with farm chores in the spring and summer and gathering the pecans during harvest season in the fall. “I always enjoyed it. I drug limbs and I helped grade pecans,” he said, referring to the process of cleaning, inspecting and sorting pecans after harvest. “I did all of that for years.”
He spent his childhood autumn days in south Alabama picking pecans off the sun-dappled ground as rays streaked through the leaves overhead. His responsibilities increased as he grew older, with the most exciting part of his journey arriving when he was 12. Kyle, on par with most young boys, was thrilled over a piece of (relatively) heavy machinery. “That’s when I started mowing. It was the best thing ever,” he says. “I didn’t know any other 12-year-olds who were allowed to run a tractor.”
Hard work, fresh air, simple joys and a daily feeling of accomplishment. It was the kind of upbringing that he and his wife Sarah envisioned for their kids. When they visited Kyle’s parents’ house on the pecan orchard, their children played amongst the trees and jaunted through the grass. It only increased Sarah and Kyle’s desire for the farm life. “Kyle wanted to instill responsibility in the kids the way he was raised, with helping around the farm, planting trees and harvesting,” says Sarah.
Five years ago, their chance finally came, more meaningful than expected. “We had the opportunity to purchase about 40 acres of the same orchard that my dad used to care for,” Kyle says. Just like when Kyle was growing up, farming once again became a family affair, prompting Sarah and Kyle to name the property Maddox Family Farms.
Kyle and his dad worked to get the land back into production shape, and over 30 years of combined knowledge paid off. After a few years, they had their first harvest. “This pecan orchard is not my primary business, but I get enjoyment out of it. This is our third harvest season on the orchard since we bought it,” he says. “Getting to do it together with my dad is very fulfilling for both of us.”
Most of the year on the farm is spent taking care of the trees, checking their nutrients and monitoring for illness. “One of the most important things is scouting, which happens in the spring and summer,” says Kyle. “That’s where you just ride around in the Ranger and you’re looking at the nuts, you’re looking for bugs, you’re looking at the colors of leaves, you’re looking at the ground. My dad spends a lot of time just riding around and scouting. He’s always keeping an eye on things.”
This vigilance is all worth it when the trees are full and the pecans are ready to be harvested, which usually happens in October. “We shake the trees, then we harvest the pecans with a mechanical harvester that’s pulled behind the tractor that picks the nuts. It’s like a vacuum of sorts,” says Kyle.
After the harvest comes grading, the staple chore of Kyle’s childhood and a time-sensitive process that requires all hands on deck. “When you’re picking pecans off the ground, they have to get graded within a day or two or they start to go bad,” says Sarah.
After the pecans go through a mechanical system that rids the crop of light debris, they’re sorted by hand. This is where the four Maddox kids — Harlan, Lorelei, Rhys and Grey — do their best work. After school, the children learn how to put weights on an old-fashioned scale to level out the nuts, label the bags with the pecan weight and variety, and pick out the undesirable pecans as they run by on a conveyor belt. “It’s fun, it’s a family ordeal and grading usually happens later in the day, so the kids get to stay up late, so they enjoy it,” Sarah laughs.
The family is in harvest mode until early-to-mid December, picking, grading and selling the several different pecan varieties that occupy the orchard. Elliotts are bestsellers, but a different type dominates what the farm supplies. Funnily enough, this kind of pecan is called Desirable, and serves as a callback to the pecan industry decades earlier. “In the ‘70s, the Desirable variety was the most popular when they were planting new trees,” says Kyle. “There are orchards all over Baldwin County that have a lot of Desirables because that was the tree to plant.” Farmers chose which trees to plant based on their resistance to bugs and fungus. Young trees are more resistant to illness but become less so when they age. “When we plant newer trees, we’re planting either Elliotts or Kanzas or some of these other ones that have proven to be a good-quality nut,” he says.
Part of harvest season is spent packing large, flexible bags called super sacks that hold anywhere around 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of pecans. Those are then sold to a company that sells them to a sheller. “The bulk of our weight is wholesale,” says Kyle. The rest of the crop are sold via retail.
Out of three versions of nuts that Maddox Family Farms offers — in-shell, cracked and farm-shelled — one in particular holds a special sense of nostalgia. “Our older customers enjoy our cracked pecans because they remember sitting with family during holidays or gatherings when mom or grandma had bought a bag of pecans,” says Sarah. “They would sit there talking and cracking pecans so that they could cook with them. Now, they want to sit around and crack them again, just like they did when they were younger.”
The Foley Farmer’s Market is a regular weekend trip during the fall months. “The kids love going to the farmer’s market,” says Sarah. “They’re good little salespeople.” It appears that they are, as the family usually sells out wherever they go. “We always say, ‘We should’ve brought more,’” says Kyle.
From start to finish, the Maddoxes treasure their farm, especially considering that the amount of pecan growers in the area isn’t as robust as it used to be. Kyle estimates that there is just a third of the farmers that used to be in the Baldwin County area 20 years ago. He chalks at least part of the decline up to hurricanes. “Hurricane Sally just decimated a lot of our orchards,” he says. “Some guys who are still in it didn’t replant those orchards because they’re in their 60s. If you plant a tree, it’s a 10-year average until it’s in a production stage where it’s making money. They look at that and say, ‘Well, heck, I’m going to be 70, 75 before that tree ever makes anything for me. I want to be retired by then.’”
To keep a strong sense of community and for any support or help they may need, the Maddoxes connect with other local pecan farmers and are a part of the Alabama Pecan Growers Association. His dad has been a member as long as Kyle can remember. He was even the Alabama Pecan Grower of the Year years ago. “I currently serve on the board of directors,” says Kyle. “It’s a huge benefit to people that are continuing to grow like us and that are trying to get better.”
Regardless of the ups and downs, pecan farming is ultimately fulfilling, and with both sets of grandparents nearby, the family has never been closer. The Maddoxes are working on building a house on the property, and continuing to grow pecans feels like a new chapter in the family history.
“I grew up running around all over this land,” says Kyle. “It’s great to be able to get the kids out of the car and tell them, ‘Go to your grandparents’ house over there,’ and they just run through the orchard. I’ll call my mom and say, ‘Hey, the kids are on their way.’” The kids love nothing more than racing each other across the orchard, taking turns on the rope swing in the red barn and relaxing in the shade of the pecan trees, the wind rustling through the leaves. Watching his children live out his childhood experience is priceless to Kyle.
“My oldest son, Harlan, is just getting to be the age where he can mow grass because he’s just now heavy enough that he can sit on the mower,” he says. “I know what I got out of this life as a child. It instilled a pretty good work ethic in me, and I want my kids to have the same thing.”
The Maddox Family’s Favorite Pecan Recipes
Gluten Free Pecan Muffins
MAKES 24 MINI MUFFINS
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup gluten free flour blend
2 cups chopped pecans
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1. Preheat oven to 350. Heavily grease mini muffin tin or use cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, gluten-free flour and pecans.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and eggs until combined.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined. Do not overmix.
5. Using a melon baller (or a spoon), drop batter into the tin until cups are 2/3 full. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Pecan Tarts
MAKES 48 MINI TARTS
Dough:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1. For the dough, mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, add eggs, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and salt, and stir to combine. Set aside.
3. Remove dough from fridge and roll into one inch balls. Press one ball into the cup of a mini muffin tin. Finger-press dough to coat entire cup like a small pie shell, and repeat until all cups are filled.
4. Add one teaspoon of filling mixture to each dough shell. Add pinch of pecans to each shell. Pecans should mound up a bit in the shell.
5. Bake tarts for 20 minutes and check for browning. Bake for another 5 minutes or until they reach desired level of golden brown.
Chicken Salad
SERVES 6
3 large boneless-skinless chicken breasts
2 capfuls liquid crab boil
4 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup dried cranberries
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
1. Cut chicken breasts in half length-wise. In a large pot filled with water, place the chicken breasts and crab boil. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let chicken breasts soak 20 minutes more before draining. Let cool completely, then chop into small pieces and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine celery, mayonnaise, pecans, dried cranberries and Creole seasoning. Add chicken and mix to combine. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
Sugar Roasted Pecans
MAKES 1 POUND
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pound pecan halves
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whip together egg white and water until frothy.
3. In separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. Add pecans to egg whites, stirring to coat. Add egg white pecan mixture to sugar bowl. Toss to coat.
5. Spread nuts evenly on baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 1 hour, tossing pecans every 15 minutes. Let cool completely and then store in an airtight container.
