# Cactus eating



## Amethyst1 (Feb 8, 2014)

I see cactus sold in produce sections of supermarkets where I live.

What do people do with them? Do they make jelly, or what?

I think that this is a Mexican thing. How do they taste?


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## rkunsaw (Feb 8, 2014)

I've eaten the fruit of prickly pears but not the leaves. I have seen them in stores. We have plenty. I might have to find a recipe and try them.


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## i_am_Lois (Feb 8, 2014)

I've eaten them. I've had the big green paddles & also the prickly pears. I liked the paddles better. They don't have that much flavor and are generally used in a recipe to thicken a sauce. The store I bought the paddles from had already cleaned the thorns off. If you get them with thorns you're supposed to put them over a fire (using the grill, broiler or gas stove flame) and char the thorns off. I'm glad I didn't have to do that. The prickly pears grow on my lawn. It's a lot of work to get the juice from them to make a jelly.

Here's what my prickly pears looks like when it's in the 'bloom' stage.
View attachment 4905
 cleaning them after they ripen
View attachment 4906
cutting then cooking
View attachment 4907
straining to get the juice
View attachment 4908


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## That Guy (Feb 8, 2014)

Peyote


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## Amethyst1 (Feb 10, 2014)

Nice photos.


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## Diwundrin (Feb 10, 2014)

There was a time you would be justifiably shot for having Prickly Pear in your yard down here in OZ. 

 It was probably the greatest vegetation blight we ever suffered.  Literally millions of acres of grazing and agricultural land was rendered useless by it.  It spread like wildfire here as it had no natural 'predators' to check it.  Someone finally came upon the idea of importing the Cactoblastus beetle and set it loose and it that cleared it up nicely eventually.  Still the odd outbreak but quickly controlled now, lesson learnt.






_*Prickly pear is in our history books as one of the most invasive weeds ever imported into Australia. *
It had a devastating impact on life in rural eastern Australia during the early part of the 20th century. Special acts of Parliament were passed to enforce control measures in an attempt to halt its spread through Queensland and New South Wales.
_
http://www.northwestweeds.com.au/prickly_pear_history.htm


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## RedRibbons (Feb 17, 2014)

I have never seen them for sale in the store. I would try them though. I really like cactus, wish I could grow them outside here.


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## RedRibbons (Feb 17, 2014)

Diwun, the most devastating plant ever imported to the South, is a rampant, fast growing, evasive, tree choking plant known as Kudzu. And, it is about impossible to kill. It grows wild all over here.


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