As our video post earlier in the week showed, Trish and Brian McKeighen purchased a farm in Saint David, Arizona that had a dozen pecan trees. The couple used Brian’s baking knowledge to create new recipes for candied pecans including a local flavor called Mexican chocolate. 

For Trish and Brian, the farm was located in a great area — Brian’s family ranches nearby — but the couple didn’t know anything about pecans. And with a dozen or so trees on the property, they decided they needed to quickly learn more about them as it offered a way to begin getting some return on their investment in the farm. 

Bringing back the trees that had been neglected for years was only one thing to consider. They learned about the different varieties, irrigation schedules and more. The McKeighens also knew there were a lot of other places that could sell customer pecans. So they wanted something more. They went through a lengthy process of developing flavors and recipes and had fellow farmers taste test and provide feedback on the candied pecans. 

The unique Mexican chocolate flavor was inspired by a family member’s love of Mexican hot chocolate — a long time local favorite drink for winter.

When it comes to favorite ways of eating pecans, Trish’s dad likes them plain as he watches television but Brian’s baking skills take the path toward desserts like pecan pie cheesecake.

As they built various new pieces to the farm, they added backyard chickens, so the couple have home grown eggs to use in the recipes. 

Brian shares some of the learnings they have had with food safety also led to product quality improvements. For instance, soaking pecans shortly before their are cracked allows them to remove any chicken litter, but also seems to yield more halves and larger pieces in the shelling process. 

If you are ready to give these yummy treats a taste, you can reach Trish via the Belenus Farms Facebook page. 

Find the podcast in your favorite apps so you get new episodes immediately every other Wednesday. And subscribing to this website will give you the heads up on Monday about what topic this week covers as we share some video and photos with a bit of foreshadowing for the podcast.

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Trish & Brian McKeighen both have full-time jobs, but as they were planning a wedding, they also knew they wanted to farm. They kept their eyes open for something near Brian’s hometown of Saint David, Arizona. The place they found had about a dozen pecan trees so that is what they started their farm — Belenus Farms LLC — with.

The scenario of starting to farm is one that lots of young people are interested in, but it’s a hard proposition and that certainly was the case for the McKeighens. Both Trish and Brian have full-time jobs and joke that they work to pay for their farming habit. At the same time, they are looking at who to do more with what the farm offers.

Their small farm in the southeastern corner of the state looked heavenly as they showed me around it as the sunset. Trish took the role of tour guide while Brian got the dogs a bit of fun playing fetch. We take a look at the chickens getting a lesson in naked neck and other breeds, egg colors and more. Then we take a look at the pecan trees and hear a bit about how the McKeighens are making things work. The sun setting over a pasture with mountains in the distance really is something that would captivate crowds. I certainly fell hard for it.

A dozen pecan trees isn’t much when you realize farmers in that area could have hundreds, even thousands of trees. But as Trish & Brian showed me around the place, I could see why they chose to do it and expect you will too.

So how do you make the most of a dozen pecan trees? That’s the primary discussion of podcast episode 105 that goes live on Wednesday. Trish & Brian McKeighen talk to us a lot more about the how they leveraged Brian’s part time job experience from high school to make the farm’s candied pecans worth a premium.

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