I love pecans, but they are difficult in the Missouri climate. So far the native walnut trees are the only nuts we have had any luck with.
We once had a huge English Walnut in the back yard but it never produced so just the opposite from Missouri. Wish we could have one producing pecan tree, one walnut, one almond, one macadamia, one hazelnut, etc. ;) It takes forever to shell these little hard natives but it beats not having any so can’t complain too loudly. I’m only picking a small portion but the dogs aren’t happy having their pecans stolen. They grab as many as they can from where I’m picking. That’s some expensive dog food.
The cats enjoy supervising. One cat in particular helps me though. She digs through the leaves to uncover pecans but then digs through the bucket sending them flying back onto the ground. She’s also a great help in the garden and loves playing hide and seek in the asparagus. Dig, dig, dig - “Is that a weed? Don’t worry, mama, whatever it is I’ll dig it up for you! Whew, gardening is hard work so I’ll just take a nap over here in this fresh dirt with all these cute little green things you just planted. Ya know, if we could keep those bean vines off the fence, it’d be so much easier to catch lizards.”