This weekend the boys and I picked 5 gallons of prickly pears, many of them from this cactus.
Being careful not to get the tiny spines (glochids) in our hands, we tried a number of things. First we torched some to burn off the spines. Then cut them open to taste. They didn't taste very good. Not horrible, but disappointing. A mix of kiwi, melon, grapefruit flavor. We juiced them by squishing them, then boiled the juice for 90 minutes. Strained it a dozen times I think. Added sugar. Eventually I admitted defeat the next day and poured it down the drain.
The corn is growing fast!
My air layering experiment is ready to go. You may be able to see some roots there in the plastic.
Planted.
I potted some octopus agaves, agave vilmoriniana and sedum morganianum (burro's tail)
Agave seedlings. In the left tray is agave parryi from seeds I collected by the Sunrise Library. The middle round pot has agave geminiflora seed I collected near Wal-Mart.
Taking a walk Sunday I saw this giant toad (unfortunately I think he was mortally injured, maybe run over?)
This morning, I pulled out this red yucca (hesperaloe parviflora) from the front yard and attempted to pot it. I filled this pot completely. I didn't realize red yucca is a tuber, like onions almost. I'm pretty sure this isn't an ideal way to pot it, we'll see how it goes. I replaced it with firecracker plant, russelia equisetiformis. I'll take a picture later.
And finally, I consulted with an arborist, Erik Wilson, about my Desert Museum Palo Verde and Mesquite trees. He recommended a tree trimming company, Trees For Needs. They came out this morning and really did a great job. I wish I had a good "before" picture.
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