Desert Harvesting

As the temperature rises this summer, the bounty from our gardens fall.  But the desert begins to flourish with legumes from the palo verde, mesquite and ironwood trees!

At a recent D.I.G. class Master Gardener and desert forager Kelly Athena served up a variety of food harvested from palo verde and mesquite trees.  From the Palo Verde trees Kelly had harvested the little green flower bud clusters, pickled them and served as capers.  You can also harvest the yellow blossoms of the palo verde and use in salads or pancake batters.

Kelly Athena harvesting Palo Verde pods at 
U of AZ Maricopa County Cooperative Extension

  The big surprise for me was how sweet the palo verde beans are when picked in time.  They taste like a cross between a sweet pea and edamame.  From the mesquite trees Kelly had harvested the dry bean pods and demonstrated how to grind the entire pods into flour.  First she ran the pods through a grinder (coffee grinder or magic bullet blender), then shook the flour through a sifter, to sift out the hard bean fragments so that only a sweet smooth flour remains.  If you would like to start baking with mesquite flour the general rule of thumb is to use 1 part mesquite flour for every 3 parts baking flour.  Mesquite bean harvesting will start in June before the monsoon rains.  Ironwood tree bean pods ripen through June and July.

Harvesting bean pods from my blue palo verde tree, mid-May 2018

Vegan taco salad topped with blue palo verde beans!

Prickly pear fruit will be abundant to harvest in August and the pads can be harvested on and off throughout the year.

Harvesting prickly pear pads (nopales)

There are more opportunities to learn about desert foraging coming up throughout the summer.  See list below.

Scraping off thorns from nopales before cooking.

Upcoming Workshops -

Mesquite Presentation & Harvesting Demonstration Wed, May 30, 2018 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Mesquite tree pods are some of our desert's greatest edible treasures. Mesquite flour has a low glycemic index and is rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc. Come learn how to identify Mesquite trees and how to harvest, store, and process pods from Peggy Sorenson a Herbalist, forager, and teacher of edible and medicinal plant in the Desert Southwest.  This is an onsite talk and harvesting demonstration designed to help you to harvest from the mesquite trees you might have in your yard or neighborhood. Pre-registration requested and suggested $15 donation upon arrival. To secure your registration, you are also welcome to donate in advance if you like.   Audubon Arizona| Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center | 3131 S Central Ave| phoenix, AZ 85040

Harvesting Bean Trees - Hosted by Cactus Kelly - Sunday June 3rd at 5 PM - 7 PM - We'll meet in the Ahwatukee Foothills in SE Phoenix and harvest Palo Verde, Mesquite, and Ironwood beans. I've found all three types ripe in my neighborhood! Learn to identify the trees, how to harvest, how to prepare to eat, and how to store them. Take some home with you. $10 per person. Exact address given upon receipt of payment. Buy tickets HERE. Led by Kelly Athena, master gardener and desert forager

Desert Harvesters in Tucson has a whole series of workshops now through December covering topics such as harvesting and cooking with palo verde, mesquite, and ironwood bean pods, to prickly pear harvesting, milling mesquite flour, harvesting amaranth, cinchweed and desert lavender,  harvesting wolfberry, hackberry and condolia.

Cactus Kelly - Stay tuned for more opportunities to forage in the desert with Kelly Athena at her FB page https://www.facebook.com/CACTUSKELLY/

Superior Prickly Pear Festival - Saturday, August 18th, downtown Superior.  Learn to make prickly pear syrup and jellies, see cooking demos using prickly pear, and stay cool with a prickly pear margarita!

Available at
http://www.desertharvesters.org/