Sorting

After we fill our tubs with nuts (or when the weather doesn't allow you to work outside) you go to the sorting shed.  Before this year all the sorting was done by hand.  They could sort one bucket in about 30 minutes (with one person working.)  As the trees are maturing and producing more, David decided to build a sorting machine.  Michael helped get some old equipment from his work and they both set to work on it.   Now they can do a tub in about 4-5 minutes.  There are a few things that need a final adjust, but for this year it works great. 

The first thing you do is pour all your nuts into this big bin.  They are going to create a stirring mechanism eventually but right now someone has to sit in it and stir the nuts so they go down the little hole correctly.

The nuts go through the hole at the bottom and up this conveyer belt.

Then they fall onto another belt that goes up.  It catches all the garbage (trash) that doesn't roll  and takes it up while the nuts can roll down.  The stuff that goes down then goes to the belt that you see Blake at below.  Someone stands here and seperates any trash that makes it down as well as seperating out the seconds (we'll go over what a 2nd is later).  

The little bit of rubbish that makes it to this point goes to one side to be used as mulch and the good ones (1sts) go into a large crate, where Sophie is.

On the other side, the garbage is dropped down onto a table.  Another person stands here to push the garbage into a bin while checking for any pecans that slipped through.  

Here is a video of the whole thing in action. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgpLAAHihko

Most of the nuts go into big bins that have wire all the way around and in the center that allows the nuts to dry.

They are then put into a dehumidifer for about 5 days.  The goal is to get the nuts down to less than 4% moisture.  I didn't get pictures of the drying shed but here is a video taken by Janet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT97t2WYuRI

Once the nuts are dry they can be sold.  The majority of the 1sts go to a distributor that exports and sells them.  They keep about 500 kg to sell in shells and about 500 kg to crack and package. I'll go through that process in a later posting.

I spent most of my time going through the trash pile.  I like this position for a few reasons.  One, I can sit down.  Two, I can use it to work on my posture and strengthen my core muscles.  Three, I don't have to pick out 1sts and 2nds, I just throw them all in a bucket and they do that later.  Four, if I have to, I can do this one handed while holding Sophie.  Five, it's out the door of the shed so I get to enjoy the nice weather, but am still under cover for protection from the rain and sun.  Six, I can go at my own pace as there is no belt pushing the stuff past me where I might miss something if I get distracted.  Who would have thought the rubbish pile would have so many good attributes?