“The French botanist Du Mont de Courset recorded hearing from his brother, who served in George Washington’s army, that the general was forever munching on pecans and always had some in his pocket.” from The Pecan Tree by Jane Manaster

In 1775, George Washington may have planted pecan trees at Mount Vernon. Certainly, in May of 1786, his journal records the planting of a row of “Illinois nuts,” as pecans were sometimes called at the time.

In 1780, Jefferson planted pecan trees at Monticello. However, by 1801 they were still not bearing fruit. While in France, Jefferson begged his pecans from friends in back in the U.S., writing, “. . . procure me two or three hundred Paccan nuts from the Western country . . . they should come as fresh as possible, and come best, I believe, in a box of sand.”

If both Jefferson and Washington could agree on the “delectability” of the pecan, who are we to gainsay their verdict? If our Founding Fathers loved the pecan, so should we. If you like pecans and have written something pecan-related on your blog, please leave a link in the Mr. Linky. I’ll be sending some fresh pecans to one lucky contributor at the end of November.

Pecans: Good Enough for Washngton and Jefferson!
Pecans: Good Enough for Me!