Thursday, April 2, 2020

‘Buyer’ Beware

Decades ago I bought a small potted cactus, assured by the garden center employee it would thrive. Boy, did it. I now have not one but two separate garden patches that will take over concrete if given half a chance.

This color combination reminds me of sunrise and sunset.
Above is a past image of the prickly pear’s gorgeous flowers. From what I had to cut back yesterday, this year we’ll see a bumper crop.

The entire plant is edible, and nopalitos was a favorite specialty at an area restaurant. But I am a chicken about handling them myself. It’s not the visible spines that get you. Rather, one needs to be careful of the tiny barbed glochids. Those things detach easily, lodge in your skin, and are near invisible if not for the fortunate red coloration of my particular species.

Yesterday I set about the annual chore of cutting back encroaching pads. The roots actually drag soil onto the pavement as the plants grow. I scraped up and saved as much dirt as possible, boxed up the discards, sealed it with plenty of packing tape, and wrote notes of caution about the contents. This spring I decided to have a little fun and added a sign.


I figured we all need a laugh right now.

To my shock, a regular scavenger driving by slowed his old truck, stopped, backed up, and took the box. I called out a warning, to which he assured me he wanted the spines to detour animals invading his garden. Okay… What more could I do?

Did you know Ohio flora included an indigenous perennial cactus? Have you ever eaten or at least seen nopalitos on a menu? Does your local grocer stock edible canned cactus?

-

16 comments:

  1. I've never even heard of this before. Hubby probably knows though because he's always eating stuff he grows.

    Have a fabulous day. Stay well. ♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd be interested if he's familiar with it. :) Take care!

      Delete
  2. I planted a prickly pear in my yard last year, and have high hopes for it! Yes, it's native to the Midwest, and I chose the sunniest side of the house for its location. To have blooms would make me SQUEE!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do hope you have containment curbs in place, though. Just sayin'. But enjoy! ~grin~ And be well.

      Delete
  3. I've never heard of it before, but if people do eat it, might as well try it, right? I bet there are videos of how people get around the spines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've heard about using blow torches and whatnot. However, the glochids are so easily triggered to fly into the air that I'm still fearful. Be well!

      Delete
  4. We have a lot of those too. And just seeing these makes my fingers tingle- I am very familiar with those awful spines.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have not eaten cactus before and not sure if they sell it here or not. I have not even tried growing them in the yard. When I was a teen I had a macrame hanger with a wooden bowl full of them. Loved them but I tended to over water them...I bet I could grow them now cause I went from being that over watering sort of person to forgetting to give my indoor plants a drink. Free plants are great. I love sharing plants and I love having them shared with me. Thing is, I am sort of starting over now with no beds (mom did not do them) and I am thinking that maybe, just maybe I really don't need to start any beds. However I want to bring some things from the other house. POTS....growing in pots!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sad you had to leave your lovely gardens and whimsical decor behind. ~hugs~ Be well!

      Delete
  6. Ok, that is funny. I see the cactus "leaves" in the grocery store and always have wondered how to cook and what they taste like and how to get rid of the spines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you got a chuckle. :) Our international store sells them spineless but, now that I think on it, my experiment with cooking the canned stuff wasn't very tasty. Heh...

      Delete
  7. I am not interested so much in garden. My wife is.
    We have a few plants in our balcony.
    I know a friend in Kerala who has a huge garden. So big it is that the plants have grown to form a canopy over the path that leads up to his house!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My husband only got into gardening the last few years, growing vegetables, of course, because he is such a 'foodie'. I would like to see your balcony plants. :) And your friend's garden sounds awesome! Be well.

      Delete
  8. Eeeeeeek!!!!

    LOL

    But they are so pretty!!!

    {{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}
    💧🌷🌱 💦🌱🌷💧

    ReplyDelete

Hope you enjoyed stopping by and please drop a line. I love comments.

Any and all will be published upon approval. Thanks!