Leland Prothe, owner of Prothe’s Pecans, returns from a tour of his pecan grove Sunday. His grandson, Zack Hutchison of Ottawa, played tour guide for Carl and Ruth Lohaus of Paola, along for the hayrack ride. (Photo by Kevin Gray / Republic@republic-online.com)
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Visitors meet a pair of Prothe pecan pickers
Leland and Slina Prothe opened up their pecan farm to guests Sunday
By Kevin Gray, Staff Writer
Although there was no Miami County Fall Farm Tour this year due to slowing interest, Leland and Slina Prothe welcomed visitors to tour their Prothe’s Pecans farm Sunday.
Leland used his tractor and a flat-bed trailer for a hayride tour of his pecan groves. His grandson Zack Hutchison, an Ottawa High School sophomore who lives north of Ottawa, provided the narrative.
“Zack knows almost as much about growing pecans as I do,” Leland said.
“When pecans grow naturally, it takes about 15 to 17 years before you can harvest pecans,” Zach said. “By grafting, it only takes 3 to 5 years. And this year, due to the rains, it’s going to be a late harvest. Only two types of pecans are even close to ready.”
Leland has 1,300 new trees grafted and planted, while there are 800 producing trees. While still farming row crops in the 1970s and 1980s, Leland noticed many young pecan trees when he was clearing land for pasture. He and Slina attended a grafting class in Olathe. By 1995, Prothe’s Pecans opened on what once was his great-grandfather’s 80-acre farm. He purchased the farm from his aunts in 1960.
He began grafting pecans, and Leland now uses 14 different varieties. His favorites are the Pawnee and Kanza.
“It took all those years to prove itself,” said Jeanne Hutchison, Zack’s mother and Leland and Slina’s daughter.
Zack explained how his grandfather uses Indian names for his pecans, such as Osage, Peruque, Kanza, Pawnee, Chetopa and the newest being the Lakota.
Leland pointed out numerous trees with branches touching the ground almost ready for harvest.
“Look at this Kanza tree. It’s about two to three years old, and it’ll produce up to three one-gallon buckets of pecans,” he said.
Once the pecans are ready for harvesting, Leland uses a shaker designed to shake all the pecans to the ground.
“The shaker works on trees up to 48 inches or about four feet around,” Zach said. “We have about six older trees out here that we tried it on, but they were bigger than four feet. The tree pretty much shook the machine, but no nuts fell. We were told those trees were young during the Civil War era.”
Leland explained the shaking process.
“When we shake the trees, people just don’t realize how much it shakes the ground. They forget about the root system. The nuts fall straight down and won’t hurt you if you get underneath. But you do have to watch out for branches. Old ones will fall, so that’s why I have a covering on my tractor when I’m shaking,” he said.
Once shaken and picked up, the pecans must be dried and eventually sent through the cracking machines and de-shelled.
Crows can be the biggest problem the Prothes face. Both Zack and Leland described one year when the sky was dark with crows.
“There were thousands. Like huge plumes rising and moving around. Crows can carry away at least two pounds of pecans apiece. They about cleaned him out,” Zack said.
Leland, who went to the Kansas Field and Game office, said, “I came up with a propane cannon to scare off the crows. You can fire it off in one, two, three bursts or vary the bursts to keep the birds guessing. It worked.”
Jeanne and Zack said they plant the young trees and keep the grass cleared three feet from the tree.
A few years ago, Jeanne opened GoogleEarth.com to view her father’s farm from space.
“I called Dad up to tell him there were perfect arrangements of dots all over his farm. This is because he uses his GPS to plant the trees in perfect spacings, and he had the grass trimmed evenly back in those three-foot circles,” Jeanne said.
Visitors to the farm Sunday were duly impressed.
As they were getting off the hayrack ride, Carl and Ruth Lohaus of rural Paola said they came out to pick up some pecans and see the grove.
At the same time, Debbie Rulo of Olathe was climbing on.
“It was such a nice day, I thought I’d come out here to see a pecan farm,” she said.
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Leland used his tractor and a flat-bed trailer for a hayride tour of his pecan groves. His grandson Zack Hutchison, an Ottawa High School sophomore who lives north of Ottawa, provided the narrative.
“Zack knows almost as much about growing pecans as I do,” Leland said.
“When pecans grow naturally, it takes about 15 to 17 years before you can harvest pecans,” Zach said. “By grafting, it only takes 3 to 5 years. And this year, due to the rains, it’s going to be a late harvest. Only two types of pecans are even close to ready.”
Leland has 1,300 new trees grafted and planted, while there are 800 producing trees. While still farming row crops in the 1970s and 1980s, Leland noticed many young pecan trees when he was clearing land for pasture. He and Slina attended a grafting class in Olathe. By 1995, Prothe’s Pecans opened on what once was his great-grandfather’s 80-acre farm. He purchased the farm from his aunts in 1960.
He began grafting pecans, and Leland now uses 14 different varieties. His favorites are the Pawnee and Kanza.
“It took all those years to prove itself,” said Jeanne Hutchison, Zack’s mother and Leland and Slina’s daughter.
Zack explained how his grandfather uses Indian names for his pecans, such as Osage, Peruque, Kanza, Pawnee, Chetopa and the newest being the Lakota.
Leland pointed out numerous trees with branches touching the ground almost ready for harvest.
“Look at this Kanza tree. It’s about two to three years old, and it’ll produce up to three one-gallon buckets of pecans,” he said.
Once the pecans are ready for harvesting, Leland uses a shaker designed to shake all the pecans to the ground.
“The shaker works on trees up to 48 inches or about four feet around,” Zach said. “We have about six older trees out here that we tried it on, but they were bigger than four feet. The tree pretty much shook the machine, but no nuts fell. We were told those trees were young during the Civil War era.”
Leland explained the shaking process.
“When we shake the trees, people just don’t realize how much it shakes the ground. They forget about the root system. The nuts fall straight down and won’t hurt you if you get underneath. But you do have to watch out for branches. Old ones will fall, so that’s why I have a covering on my tractor when I’m shaking,” he said.
Once shaken and picked up, the pecans must be dried and eventually sent through the cracking machines and de-shelled.
Crows can be the biggest problem the Prothes face. Both Zack and Leland described one year when the sky was dark with crows.
“There were thousands. Like huge plumes rising and moving around. Crows can carry away at least two pounds of pecans apiece. They about cleaned him out,” Zack said.
Leland, who went to the Kansas Field and Game office, said, “I came up with a propane cannon to scare off the crows. You can fire it off in one, two, three bursts or vary the bursts to keep the birds guessing. It worked.”
Jeanne and Zack said they plant the young trees and keep the grass cleared three feet from the tree.
A few years ago, Jeanne opened GoogleEarth.com to view her father’s farm from space.
“I called Dad up to tell him there were perfect arrangements of dots all over his farm. This is because he uses his GPS to plant the trees in perfect spacings, and he had the grass trimmed evenly back in those three-foot circles,” Jeanne said.
Visitors to the farm Sunday were duly impressed.
As they were getting off the hayrack ride, Carl and Ruth Lohaus of rural Paola said they came out to pick up some pecans and see the grove.
At the same time, Debbie Rulo of Olathe was climbing on.
“It was such a nice day, I thought I’d come out here to see a pecan farm,” she said.