This past week I've had fun driving around my neighborhood while my kids nap in the car and finding mesquite trees and prickly pear cactus growing in parks and alleys to pick from. I have a grocery bag of mesquite pods and picked 290 prickly pear fruits. And I'm only getting started.
The largest patch of prickly pears is at my friend's house and behind a donut shop in the neighborhood. They are deep purple and when you pull the fruit off the plant, it bleeds deep red. If it is still green at the bottom they are not quite ready to pick. I just put the prickly pear fruit (tunas) in my freezer in 2 gallon zip locks. 80 tunas to a zip lock. I've heard it is easier to get the "pokey things" (phrase from my 3 year old) off when they are frozen. I plan on rolling the fruit on screen to take the spines off, washing them, boiling them, blending them in my Vitamix, draining the juice using a strainer and cheese cloth, and finally freezing the juice in ice cube trays. I plan on taking the pulp back to the cactus to allow birds and other critters to eat it and complete the cycle. I also won't pick all the fruit from the cactus because I want to leave some for the wild animals that rely on it to survive, mostly birds. I'll write a post as to what happens once I try this. Anyone know great tasting recipes using prickly pear fruit juice?
I have now located a good number of mesquite trees growing in the alleys near my house. There are also many in a park near my place. I totally hit the jackpot with finding lots of trees in one place.I have picked enough to fill a grocery bag. My plan is to pick 5 buckets full (5 gallons) so once milled, will equal 1 gallon of flour. The millings begin at various places around town come September. I ground 1 1/2 cups already in my Vitamix and made pancakes. The whole family loved them. So far, most mesquite pods are still green which means they aren't quite ready to pick. Once they are completely brown and fall into your hand when you touch them, they are ready to pick. You should be able to break them in half easily. I've heard they can be washed in water, dried on trays outside or in a dehydrator/solar oven, and then put in a sealed container until milling into flour. Tiny bugs lay eggs in the pods when they are green. Once the bugs hatch they make little holes in the pods to escape. Make sure you leave your harvested pods outside so that the bugs can hatch and escape unless you like bugs inside. If you don't like the idea of bugs coming out of your pods, you can bake the pods, causing the bugs to die inside the pods. I view the little bugs as extra protein.
If you buy unbleached wheat flour from the store, there are little bugs in that too, all ground up. Thanks to Amy from Desert Harvesters for teaching me all this great information.
http://www.desertharvesters.org/
Stay tuned....
The largest patch of prickly pears is at my friend's house and behind a donut shop in the neighborhood. They are deep purple and when you pull the fruit off the plant, it bleeds deep red. If it is still green at the bottom they are not quite ready to pick. I just put the prickly pear fruit (tunas) in my freezer in 2 gallon zip locks. 80 tunas to a zip lock. I've heard it is easier to get the "pokey things" (phrase from my 3 year old) off when they are frozen. I plan on rolling the fruit on screen to take the spines off, washing them, boiling them, blending them in my Vitamix, draining the juice using a strainer and cheese cloth, and finally freezing the juice in ice cube trays. I plan on taking the pulp back to the cactus to allow birds and other critters to eat it and complete the cycle. I also won't pick all the fruit from the cactus because I want to leave some for the wild animals that rely on it to survive, mostly birds. I'll write a post as to what happens once I try this. Anyone know great tasting recipes using prickly pear fruit juice?
I have now located a good number of mesquite trees growing in the alleys near my house. There are also many in a park near my place. I totally hit the jackpot with finding lots of trees in one place.I have picked enough to fill a grocery bag. My plan is to pick 5 buckets full (5 gallons) so once milled, will equal 1 gallon of flour. The millings begin at various places around town come September. I ground 1 1/2 cups already in my Vitamix and made pancakes. The whole family loved them. So far, most mesquite pods are still green which means they aren't quite ready to pick. Once they are completely brown and fall into your hand when you touch them, they are ready to pick. You should be able to break them in half easily. I've heard they can be washed in water, dried on trays outside or in a dehydrator/solar oven, and then put in a sealed container until milling into flour. Tiny bugs lay eggs in the pods when they are green. Once the bugs hatch they make little holes in the pods to escape. Make sure you leave your harvested pods outside so that the bugs can hatch and escape unless you like bugs inside. If you don't like the idea of bugs coming out of your pods, you can bake the pods, causing the bugs to die inside the pods. I view the little bugs as extra protein.
If you buy unbleached wheat flour from the store, there are little bugs in that too, all ground up. Thanks to Amy from Desert Harvesters for teaching me all this great information.
http://www.desertharvesters.org/
Stay tuned....
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