Arizona #NativeEdibles

Edible Plants Native To Arizona

Listen To The Podcast

Farmer Greg Peterson of the Urban Farm joins us with a couple guests to talk about edible plants that are native to Arizona. Check out the podcast below to hear more information!

Header Image Info:

• Back Row: Palo Verde Bean Pods, Mesquite Flower, Mesquite Peanut Butter Ball
• On The Plate: Saguaro Bloom, Mesquite Bean Pods

Mesquite and the milling

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  Mesquite bean pods are edible

• • Ripen when they turn from green to tan
  • Lightly chew a pod from each tree before harvesting
  • Taste for sweetness without any bad aftertaste

• Harvesting mesquite

  • In June, before the monsoon
  • Harvest from the tree, not the ground
  • Lay a tarp under the tree
  • Use a long stick to knock down pods

• Aflatoxin

  

  • Mold by-product in the soil that increases with high heat and humidity
  • Don’t harvest after it rains on ripe pods
  • Never rinse off the pods

• Bruchid Beetles

  • Tiny holes in pods

• Prepare pods for milling

  • Sort pods, remove any green or partially green pods, any with bird poop (don’t wash them) or any with black mold

    

  • Remove stems & leaves
  • Dry all pods thoroughly, in the oven on 300 for approx. 30 min or longer, in a dehydrator or in shallow boxes in your car (solar oven)
  • Give them the snap test to test for dryness
  • Put them in 5 gal food grade buckets or paper bags
  • Bring to the hammermill event

Listen to the podcast to learn more about the Community Mill and how the program works.

• How to use the flour

  • Substitute ¼ – 1/3 mesquite for wheat flour in most recipes
  • Great for pancakes, cookies, cornbread
  • Substitute any gluten free flour with Mesquite

    

  • Simple treat: 1 cup mesquite flour, 1 cup of nut butter stir together, use as a spread or roll into balls then roll them in more mesquite flour

Other Edible Trees

• Palo Verde beans (Foothills & Blue)

  • 2 harvests: Fresh beans mid-late May & Dry beans in June
    • Boil fresh beans in their pods in salted water
    • Grind dried beans into flour

  • Ironwood beans

    

    • Harvest in mid-June
    • Shell & Boil beans in salt water or toast in a pan

Edible Cactus

• Prickly Pear fruit

  • Harvest in August-September
  • Remove thorns & glochids
    • Freezing
    • Burning
    • Juicing

• Saguaro fruit

  

  • Harvest in mid-June
  • 20+ ft extension pole and a fishing net
  • Eat the pulp

• Cholla buds

  • Harvest 1^st 2 weeks in April
  • Use tongs
  • Burn off thorns then boil for 10 minutes

• Jumping/Teddy Bear Cholla

  • Young, use tongs, burn off thorns

• Barrel cactus

  • Harvest begins in the winter when fruit is fully yellow
  • Eat the yellow flesh, raw or cooked
  • Eat the seeds raw or toasted in a dry pan

Other Desert Edibles

• Wolfberries

  • Similar to goji berries
  • Harvest in the spring when fully ripe

• Devil’s Claw

• Agave heart

• Banana Yucca

• Chia Seeds

• Edible Weeds

  • Purslane
  • Mallow
  • London Rocket
  • Tumbleweed

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PODCAST

Desert trees, cactus, even weeds can be very tasty! From mesquite beans to cactus bearing fruit, learn what you can eat, the preparation it takes and treats you can enjoy from Peggy Sue Sorenson and Mike Clow of The Desert Kitchen. Along with Farmer Greg Peterson of The Urban Farm.  Let the foraging begin!

Podcast Archive With Expanded Content and Resources

PHOTO CREDIT

• Urban Farm