Eagle Ranch Heart of the Desert Pistachios

Eagle Ranch offers free tours at 1:30 each day. At the end of the tour, they offer FREE samples.

While we waited on our tour to begin, we studied some of the art featured in the Art Gallery. Each month, a different artist is featured.  As you can tell, Hannah has not learned to appreciate art.

Therefore, Daddy took all the younger children outside to wait, under the tree, while Sierra and I enjoyed the art gallery without the fear of a $500.00 piece of art hitting the floor.

(male)

(female)

In order for Pistachios to grow pollination must occur. Unlike flowers in Tennessee that are pollinated by bees, the Pistachios trees are pollinated by the wind. It takes one male tree to pollinate 8 to 10 female trees. The New Mexico winds move the pollen from tree to tree. The children noticed how much prettier the female tree was compared to the male tree. The male tree produces the pollen and no nuts. The female tree produces the nuts.

This is a Pistachio grove. Pistachios grow well in the Tularosa Basin because the climate is almost identical to the climate in the pistachio growing region of the Middle East which is where pistachios were originally grown. The Pistachios are harvested in September. We learned that the shell of

the nut pops open as part of the ripening process while it is still on the tree. When the nuts are harvested in September, the epicarp (hull) is easily removed to expose the inner shell. If the epicarp is not removed the rosy/light yellow color will stain the inner shell and cause the nutmeat to become bitter. Once the epicarp is removed the inner shell comes off without much effort exposing the nutmeat.

Before going in the preparation and packaging area we all to put on hair nets. Don't we have some great looking children!!!

The oven is in the back to the right. The tube looking machine in the left corner sprays the seasoning on the nutmeats. (Eagle Ranch has several flavors of Pistachios. I love the green chili.) The drying rack in front is where the trays are put when they come out of the oven to cool.

The grove owners choose to use all parts of the nuts. The nuts that are not the best quality are used for bird food. The shells are ground up and used like gravel. This truck hauls the shells to the field where it is placed on the dirt roads around the farm.

If you are interested in finding out more about Eagle Ranch or want to purchase some delicious Pistachios, you can contact them through their website at http://www.eagleranchpistachios.com/ or at http://www.heartofthedesert.com/