About Us - Hobby Orchard

About Us

As a child, I remember the acre of land my dad purchased just on the outskirts of Belton, Texas for a garden since we lived in town and didn't have enough space in our yard to grow very much in the way of fresh produce. In the far southwest corner of that property stood a huge native pecan tree that produced hundreds of small to average size pecans almost every year. I remember thinking the tree must be 100 years old to be that big! Knowing what I know now, it probably wasn't even half that age, but when you're only 5 years old, everything looks bigger than life.

My husband also reminisces of the majestic pecan trees that stood along a creek in his neighborhood in Lawton, Oklahoma. He and his brother would climb up into their branches to shake down enough pecans for their mom to make a pecan pie. His best childhood memories are beneath (and in) those trees.

We planted our first pecan trees in the early 1990's on our 1 1/2 acre home site. Our property overlooked a huge valley full of pecan trees, so we had a good feeling about our ability to grow pecan trees on our place.

Our first trees were a mixture of varieties; some were container grown, some were bare root. Some were planted by using the methods described back then by the Ag Extension agency (post-hole digger hole, compost, fertilizer, and pack the dirt back in) and others were planted using Howard Garrett's method (dig a big ugly hole, only the original soil goes back in, and settle the dirt with water -no packing). We quickly discovered that Howard Garrett, the "doctor of dirt" from Dallas, had the right idea. Our trees grew and flourished, and so did our desire to have more land and more trees.

We sold our home and bought a 40 acre farm in a small, rural town and built a new home. We once again planted our pecan trees, but this time we planted four acres of trees instead of a yard full of trees. Robert carefully designed and installed a grid of pecan trees of various varieties from the well known Indian-named varieties to the not as well known varieties. We soon learned that proper irrigation was a necessity and the orchard became more than some yard trees, it became a full-blown HOBBY. We called our farm "Brock Farm" and so did everyone else that knew us. Sadly, after the 9/11 tragedy, the airline industry took a big hit, and so did my husband's job, which was directly tied to it. He and several other folks lost their jobs, and it became apparent that we would have to sell our place and move to find work.

We ended up moving north of Dallas to a small, friendly community on the Texas/Oklahoma border where we purchased another farm just outside of town. Smaller than our last place at 13 acres, this place appears to have the best of both of our previous places. We have a small creek that crosses our property, and we back up against a larger creek. This gives us a nice river bottom for our pecan orchard. Our house sits safely on top of a hill, away from any harm if the water rises from the creek banks in the spring. The soil here is much more fertile than our last place, which allows us to grow a variety of fruit trees and vines. Our garden thrives in the sandy loam soil and the slightly cooler temperatures. So this is the place we call "home sweet home" and once again the hobby orchard has begun. We enjoy and cherish our time, freedom and tranquility on the farm. We teach our children how to respect the land and be self sufficient. They see how things grow and the work involved in the process. We look forward to each day and are happy to share our experiences with you -- and hope that you will share your experiences with us!