CEDAR CREEK, Texas -- If you love pecans, you're not alone.
Texas is the country's third-highest pecan producer behind Georgia and New Mexico. Bastrop County's Berdoll Pecan Candy & Gift Company produces 600 thousand pounds every year.
During the holiday season, they bake 400 pies a day.
But they're also battling the weather, which hasn't been cooperating.
Peak pecan season is here, and in Texas, that is big business. But this year, Mother Nature has thrown a one-two punch of weather challenges.
"Hi, Welcome to Berdolls," says Berdoll Pecan Candy & Gift Company employee Taylor.
If you visit the Berdoll Pecan store in Cedar Creek Texas, you'll find chocolate-covered pecans, pecan pies, in-shell pecans, cracked pecans, jalapeno-flavored pecans, pretty much anything that you can add to pecan.
The family business started here in this orchard, which boasts 15 thousand trees and 340 acres.
"My parents started the business 43 years ago, and I grew up in the middle of the orchard, riding four-wheelers in it, running through the sprinklers in it, and it's very special to be able to continue it on," says Jennifer Wammack, owner of Berdoll Pecan Candy & Gift Company.
Jennifer Wammack says it's been a tough year.
"Summer was really hot and really dry. We do irrigate, but pecan trees love a good rain. Harvest time in early October, when we shake the trees, the Pawnee pecans were ready, but they weren't really full of meat," explains Wammack.
Blame the drought for fewer nuts passing the Berdoll's quality standards.
"Choctaws aren't in, because it's too wet to harvest," Taylor tells a shopper.
And now, blame the rain for keeping the other varieties that are ripe and ready stuck on the trees.
"You can see some of the hulls are green, some are turning brown. They're just keeping the pecans until hopefully it dries up and we can come in and start harvesting them," says Wammack.
"I am totally nuts about pecans," says shopper Michael Lofton of Austin.
Pecan lovers, don't panic. There are plenty of Pawnees, and the other varieties will be delayed, but still delicious.
"They're so chewy, they're so fresh, and I mean, that's what you want when you bite into a pecan," says Lofton.
And if you get a craving after hours, there is a pecan pie vending machine open 24/7.
In true "everything's bigger in Texas" fashion, Berdoll's is also home to the world's largest squirrel statue, Ms. Pearl.
"She's 14 feet tall, she has a website, and our customers can pass 71 without stopping and taking a picture," says Wammack.
No matter the weather, the Berdoll family tradition lives on.
"It's a labor of love. There's a lot that goes into it, not just this time of year, but all year long.
Visit Berdoll Pecan Candy & Gift Company at 2626 State Hwy 71 West, Cedar Creek, TX 78612
Ms. Pearl the Squirrel's website: https://berdollsquirrel.com/