We started working on the 2010 pine nut harvest the middle of June. I want to thank the ranchers and private land owners in the Southwest who have called and emailed us about harvesting, together with The Nevada Cattlemen's Association, albeit, the cattlemen are strange bedfellows for us. George and I spent a good deal of time on the ground in the Southwest, thank goodness! Saturday August 28th, I was again out in the woods, scoping coning of soft shell pine nuts. There will be a harvest. Last year, we saw close to 200,000 lbs of soft shell Nevada pinenuts come out of the forest. It was a banner year. This year, pickings are slim - very slim, for the soft shell harvest. When the rains do not arrive at the proper times, the cones dry up, turn brown and drop. Saturday I was scoping, with two young woman (ages 14 and 15) . I cannot tell what a joy it was to share with them and how eagerly they soaked up the information I had to share. I taught the young woman, to pray before harvest and give thanks, to never take without giving and sing to trees as a means for expressing the joy and appreciation for the harvest. These are the natural laws. Hard shell New Mexico Harvest. The Colorado areas we saw were heavy with blight and beetle kill. The forests in the Four Corner's area were sick, very sick. There will be no harvest there for many years. We went to areas all over New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah to find harvest ground and we did. This year, Goods From The Woods clients will have pine nuts. However, we are harvesting later this year. The longer the nuts can stay in the cones, the better the nuts. The very first nuts that come off the trees are not best. We are choosing to wait. To make this up to our clients, we are giving free gifts with 10 lb soft shell orders, including cotton draw string bags, free hickory nut samples, pinon essential oil and other goodies. We want folks to have the opportunity to try our sister company's products. A Wild Crops Farm is George Frazier's enterprise, while Goods From The Woods, belongs to Penny Frazier. The two companies are a marriage, with George harvesting and distilling certified organic floral waters, hickory nuts, and other Missouri harvests, while I focus out west on pine nuts. Life is good, I am grateful to another pine nut harvest and hope our clients understand, the labors of love that bring them their products.