Oakford Pecans – a story of discovery, Linda Eilks & Pumpkin/Squash update

# Oakford Pecans – a story of discovery, Linda Eilks & Pumpkin/Squash update, Catherine Lambrecht

Linda Eilks grew up on a farm outside of Oakford Illinois. After careers at both IL Extension and U.S. Department of Agriculture, she retired and moved into a home within the village of Oakford. There she was faced with an abundance of pecans falling from the trees in her yard. She researched what to do with them and found some interesting historical facts about the pecan trees in the area. She will talk about pecan trees in general, those that grow around Oakford, and especially those that grow in her yard..

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Many moons ago, Catherine Lambrecht was a University of Illinois Extension Master Food Preserver instructed by Linda Eilks. As it happens, Eilks now lives in the region where pumpkins are commercially grown (80-mile radius from Morton, Illinois). Knowing ,Lambrecht was looking for a Dickinson Squash, Eilks found one of these squash for her. Lambrecht will update on her experience. One piece of wisdom: all pumpkins are squash, but not all squash are pumpkins!