Planting a shit ton of cactus in AZ...

Yes, One of the only sources of Water in the Desert.

Smart.

Fruit trees are a hit or miss, especially with late frost here in the high altitude area I am in.

Cactus on the other hand grows like a mofo here...

You can eat the cactus and you get prickly pear fruit with ease.

What’s it taste like?

Got some here on my property too. Planting another orange tree and planted a fall vegetable garden in raised beds. Trying to survive here.

Those who have been lucky enough to experience the magic of prickly pear have described its flavor as a remarkable fusion of watermelon and classic bubble gum (via Spoon University). The bubble gum flavor isn't too overpowering but adds enough oomph to make this fruit mind-blowingly delicious. The prickly pear's seeds are also completely edible, per food blog The Other Side of the Tortilla.

Luckily, the neon pink prickly pear boasts a ton of awesome health benefits, according to Mayo Clinic. The juicy flesh is filled with vitamins and nutrients that are linked to reducing the risk of diabetes, maintaining cholesterol levels, and possibly even curing brutal hangovers (Thank you, anti-inflammatories and antioxidants!). It also contains potassium, which helps support good digestion and promotes cardiovascular and metabolic health (via WebMD). Prickly pear is also used as an ingredient in some skincare, haircare, and beauty products.

If you're looking for a new fruit to try, go ahead and take a stab at prickly pear. It's beautifully colored, delectably juicy, super fun to prepare and eat, and all-around good for you.

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Made me think of...

Thanks for that. Made me hungry!

5 stars and green

It has a definite pointed taste.

Wear Gloves!

I Skin the cactus, get all thorns off and I mean OFF ENTIRELY!
You don't want one of those thorns going down your throat!
And when it's all green and CLEAN from thorns, cut it in slices, salt and eat it! Tastes refreshing!

I love it that way! Others might know other ways of eating it! I have around 12 of these plants in my back yard.
They give fruit and when they are ripe you can make prickly pear jam out of them!
My neighbor's grandmother used to make jam from these plants and he said the jam was better than store jam!
Youtubers show you how to make jam out of the fruit! They show you how to burn the thorns off with a propane torch!

[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

Sweet, like sugar. Don't eat the pricks.

We eat nopales (cactus) quite often here in New Mexico. Pickled in the jar is the easy way to enjoy it.

If you're gonna prep cactus pads to eat you'll want to start with a close to thornless variety. It will still have little hairs that will attack you so use caution.

Cut a young pad, thinner is best.

Rinse under running h20.

Use a knife and a peeler to take off the little nodes where the prickly hairs are. You can peel the first layer of skin off if you want, that's how we do it.

Cut into green bean size and boil until tender. Discard the water.

Add diced tomato and onion it'll need some kind of vinegar or lemon style dressing. Needs some cilantro too.

It's still a smidge slimy this way but it's good in a salad.

*They are filling but cactus pads really aren't super nutritious. The fruit has some vitamins.

Google what cactus are in the opuntia species. All those are non-toxic.

Why? You going to make wine?

Consider planting the cactus as a fence around more exciting crops.
Prickly pears are tasty, but they’re a lot of work, and I’m imagining a big field of them and doesn’t sound like fun..
The best prickly pears I’ve had are in Southern California..
Small fruits and deep, rich red color- the sweetest flavor.
I’ve been all over and like to forage.
Depending on your elevation, you should consider growing pine nuts, ponderosa pines.
Also there’s some cactus that I saw growing in Phoenix that had fruits similar to a dragon fruit. Forget the name if I ever learned it. It was growing in someone’s yard and I saw birds eating the fruits so I tried them and it was great so I picked a whole bunch. It was not a dragon fruit, it had a more traditional cactus look to it. Dragon fruits are pretty crazy looking and I’ve never seen them in the desert.
Mesquite pods are fun and abundant.
And yucca is very useful fiber and has some edible parts too.
I think artichokes will grow through the winter in the south..
Maybe give quinoa a try.
I forget the name of the cactus that is popular with Mexicans, it tastes like green pepper when you cook it- those grow good in the heat. Big flat lobes..

I live in upstate New York, and it’s been a while since I’ve been to the south west, but I like plants, traveling and living in nature.

Nopales!
Someone else said the name.
Those are good and will grow in lowland AZ. I don’t think they like the high elevations..
Way easier to process than prickly pears and has a longer edible season as it isn’t a fruit.
And definitely grow some hatch peppers!

Nice, I traded my neighbor out in Southern Colorado one of my barrel cactus for 10 of his pinyon saplings back in June. It was raining out there day after day but lots of fun.

Also bought a book down in NM called

The Prickly Pear Cookbok, by Carolyn Niethammer

Some pretty cool recipes to be made with that abundant resource.

Last Edited by wolf7719 on 09/22/2022 09:10 PM

Excellent food source, tasty fruit, and it is easy to grow in my higher altitude area, here in Mid-Northern AZ.

Nice, I will check it out.

Thanks...

I am at about 4,800 feet and they grow well here.

Too cold for citrus were I am at in AZ, but I do have some dwarf citrus trees I bring in for winter and take back out in the summer. Those will go in my greenhouse when TSHTF...

Right now just doing three large raised beds, but getting ready to poly up my greenhouse when the flag goes up, and then converting ALL my other land for food production.

..
1) Drill for “Primary Water”

2) “Weather Modification” & cloud seeding

Both are decades old ways to bring water to farms & the public to drink.


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