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fruit, are truly one of the world’s most amazing plants. They have what
seems like a hundred beneficial uses and require next to no additional
water or care. In some countries, they go a long way towards feeding
the populace with a minimum of cost.
Both the pads and fruit are delicious and highly nutritious. They can be
eaten raw, cooked fresh, pickled, dehydrated, or made into jelly,
candy, juice and wine. They also have many other uses, including a
wide range of medicinal functions, a low-cost animal feed, a water-
proofing agent for paints and plasters, predator-proof fencing,
shampoo, pigmentation, and even fibers to use in woven objects like
baskets. Now do you see why we love them so much?
Step 2: Handling
If there’s a downside to prickly pears, it comes from the “prickly” parts
that gave them their name. Not only do they have long, vicious spines
sticking out of the pads, they also have small, fur-like clusters that are
called glochids. While these little hairs may look harmless, they are
not. They’ll brush against your skin and get stuck there like tiny
needles. There are several spineless varieties of both the pads and
the fruit, but even these will sometimes retain their glochids.
When we go prickly pear picking, we go with a long list of rules. The
first is “Never use your hands to handle the plant”. The most recent
addition, care of our 7 year old, Leo, was “DO NOT lick the fruit juice
off your tongs” - he will tell you that glochids in your tongue are no fun.
In general:
Wait until the fruit is very ripe. It should be slightly soft when squeezed
with tongs.
Grab the fruit with your tongs, and give it a slight twist and tug.
If it does not come free fairly easily, it is probably not ripe yet.
They also make an excellent feed for animals, especially for those
requiring additional calcium (like egg layers or dairy producers), or that
do not produce their own vitamin C (like guinea pigs).
Several studies have been conducted examining the medicinal
properties of nopales, and it has been suggested that they can help in
the treatment of all kinds of conditions, including diabetes, cholesterol,
stomach problems, inflammation, cuts and bruises, sunburn,
windburn, constipation, and colds. Although results of many of the
studies are not yet conclusive, they do seem at least positive. In fact,
there has been enough evidence that nopales help lower blood sugar
by increasing the body’s ability to absorb insulin and release it slowly,
that it is recommended that people with diabetes consult with their
doctor before consuming nopales on a regular basis, just to avoid
issues with their dose of insulin.
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The pads can also be eaten raw in salads, but are usually cooked
first. They have a flavor similar to green beans.
The new, young pads are best for cooking. They are usually more
tender and tasty, as well as having less spines.
Hold the pad at its base and scrape with a blunt knife to remove
spines and glochids. Or hold them over a flame to burn the prickly bits
off.
With a knife, cut off the edge of the pad and slice away any areas that
may still have spines.
Cut the pads into strips or chunks.
They can be a little slimy, which is great for thickening soup or for use
in leftover rice.
If you wish to remove the sliminess, boil them for 5 minutes and then
discard the water. Then cook them in whatever recipe you wish.
You can fry or sauté them, add them to omelets, rice or soup.
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This recipe makes two and a half pints, so scale it according to how
much fruit you have.
Tools:
Tongs
Knife
5x ½ pint jars
Large pot
Potato masher
Colander
Nylon or cheese cloth
Canner
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Step 6: Wine
Show All 7 Items
Tools:
3 gallon container
2 ½ gallon container
Wine bottles, with corks (and wax to seal, if you have it)
Airlock
Large pot
Potato masher
Colander
Hydrometer
Refractometer
Funnel
Ingredients:
35 lb of fruit
6 cups of sugar
1 packet of yeast
Instructions:
Step 7: Candy
Please note that we haven’t actually made this candy. We wanted to
add the recipe here partly because it sounds awesome, and partly so
that all your prickly pear possibilities are listed in one place (you really
can’t help but use alliteration when talking about this plant!). We got
the recipe (and photos) from http://dailydishrecipes.com/cactus-fruit-
prickly-pear-gum-drops/ and have not altered it at all. Nor did we add
the tools needed for this to the list of tools above.
Ingredients:
½ cup ripe prickly pear cactus fruit, peeled, pureed and de-seeded
1½ cups plain no sugar added applesauce
2 teaspoons of powdered pectin (I used Sure Jell)
2½ cups sugar, divided
Sugar for dusting each gumdrop at the end
Instructions:
Tools:
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Tools:
Dehydrator
Ingredients:
Instructions:
The gel inside the pads is a great waterproofing agent. Chop up the
pads in a concrete mixer or chipper and add the gelatinous substance
to a lime plaster or paint. This has been used for a long, long time on
old adobe buildings in Mexico.
Predator-proof fence-line
Because prickly pears are both prolific and prickly, they make a great
deterrent to predators on any fence-line. We have planted single pads
every three feet around our perimeter fence. Next year, those single
pads will have made several more, which we will then remove and
plant so that there is a cactus every foot. Another year will see those
plants grow taller and wider, so that the whole fence will have a prickly
pear presence. The plants will eventually grow to form an
impenetrable hedge about 3-6 feet in height. The more it grows, the
harder it will be for any predator to get through, and we’ll have a huge
supply of fruit to use in jellies and wine.
Animal feed
Prickly pears make a cheap and easy to grow food for animals, as
they need no additional irrigation or nutrients. They are especially
valuable for animals that require extra calcium, like egg-laying poultry,
or for animals that do not produce their own vitamin C, like guinea
pigs. They also add a sweet flavor to the milk produced from dairy
animals that consume them. Make sure that prickly pears do not
constitute more than 50 % of an animal’s feed, or it will develop
diarrhea. Depending on your variety, it is best to burn the spines off
before feeding them to animals.
Mosquito repellant
Shampoo
Nopales can be used as a shampoo that leaves your hair soft and
shiny. Cut up a pad into small chunks and then add it to a blender with
some water. Strain the pieces out and use the liquid on your hair.
Rinse thoroughly after one minute.
The gel from a pad can be used in much the same way as aloe vera.
Just apply the gel topically for instant relief.
Dye
If you are looking for a natural red dye, look no further than the prickly
pear fruit. The red fruit (some tunas are green or yellow) produces a
pigment akin to beets.
Flour
You can dry the seeds and then grind them for a tasty gluten-free
flour.
Toothpicks or needles
The spines are very strong and sharp. They can be used as
toothpicks, needles or pins.
Baskets
If you pound and dry the pads, you can extract the strong fibers to use
in any weaving project.
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The best way to start your prickly pear farm is to cut pads off existing
plants from your local area and then plant them in the ground. Choose
local varieties that are adapted to your specific climate.
Planting is easy; just make a small hole and plant the pad vertically
(using tongs to handle them), with between ½ and 1/3 of the pad
below ground. We have now planted hundreds of pads and have had
very, very few failures.
Let the new prickly pear form several new pads before you start to
harvest them. It’s best to prune pads to form a central trunk up a few
feet before letting it branch out for the best fruit production. Prickly
pears have been known to live over 20 years.
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