How Shady Grove Pecan Orchards stemmed from a longtime family dream
For decades, Billy Jeter dreamed that one day, along with his family, he would plant a grove and grow his own pecans. Unsurprising, maybe, since the Jeter family’s farming heritage in Arkansas dates four generations. (Their extended family still farms cotton, corn, wheat, and soybeans in Jefferson County.) But pecans in particular held a special place in Jeter’s heart. “Where we’re from, there were these old pecan trees, and it was nostalgic for families to sit around at the holidays, crack pecans, and eat them,” says Anna Jeter Lester, Billy’s daughter. “People would get them as gifts and put them in desserts.”
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