Does anyone have a good "safe" way to harvest and use prickly pears without getting skewered and full of spines? They're delicious but brutal and this seems to be a good bumper crop year.

-- PAT (ZUMENDE@AOL.COM), August 30, 2000

Answers

I've read that a good way for harvesting prickly pear cactus is to use a high BTU torch on them. The because of the high BTUs, the torch quickly burns the tips of the spines so that they become blunt, therefore there is no need to torch them enough to completely burn them off. That would in essence cook the cactus which you would not want. Don't get stuck in finding the right amount time for the torching process.

As a bit of a side note, I brought back a cactus from Arizona that has fuzz on it rather than spines. Perhaps this will eventually be a good substitute to regular prickly pear as they look the same except for the spines.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), August 30, 2000.

I have never had the opportunity at prickley pears, however, a picture book I had as a child showed indians harvesting p.p.'s with what looked like the apple pickers we use -- a bag on the end of a long stick to keep a distance, and the bag was held open at the top with a metal hoop that looked like it had wide comb-like teeth on it to surround the fruit and pull it loose, then it would drop into the bag. I don't know if these were sharpened to cut them loose or not.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), August 30, 2000.

== I brought back a cactus from Arizona that has fuzz on it rather than spines. Perhaps this will eventually be a good substitute to regular prickly pear as they look the same except for the spines. ==

It's a different species. There are several cacti that have the fuzz. My favorite is the Old Man Of The Desert.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), August 31, 2000.

Notforprint, do you know if the fuzzy variety from Arizona is a native or a hybrid? Did you buy it at a nursery or see it growing on its own? I will try to find out a name and history. All of mine are native here in TX. We have a Wildlife Mgm't exemption and plan to keep all (plantings) indiginous, to restore the land.

-- Pat (Zumende@aol.com), August 31, 2000.

Pat, the cactus came from my friend's yard, from a cactus growing there. Doubt that it is native, but don't know. I just gently snapped off a pad, wrapped it in damp newspaper and shipped it home with a box full of agave cacti. I didn't open the box from mid-January until the latter part of February. At that time we were having such mild temperatures I planted the cacti outdoors. They are all doing great.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), August 31, 2000.

Notforprint, I'll be on the lookout for the fuzzy (less harmful) variety--that produces a prickly pear. Have heard the blue agave has had several bad years in its native area of Mexico. The acre immediately surrounding the house will have other then indigenous but still "native" xeriscape varieties--it's getting impossible to tell whether the nurseries are intentionally misleading for profit or they really aren't knowlegeable enough to differentiate "indigenous". After enough seasons, perhaps you should start distilling your own "tequila for profit"...thanks, Pat

-- Pat (Zumende@aol.com), August 31, 2000.

I used a pair of kitchen tongs and leather gloves to pick mine and put them in a 5 gallon plastic bucket. No matter what you do you will get spines in you! Good luck!

-- Judy (jlanning0@ourhouse.net), August 31, 2000.