You're invited to this free event! 
A celebration of our incredible edible desert!
The free event begins Saturday,  Aug.18, 2018, at 7:00 a.m. with a guided hike to forage prickly pear fruit. It is followed by a pancake breakfast at the local VFW at 405 Main St, Superior, AZ 85173, guest speakers, food education, local vendors, food trucks, an art gallery, and a cactus lounge with beverages and live music throughout the day. 
The location will be at the Town Hall, 199 N. Lobb Ave., Superior, Arizona. Please contact Pete at PricklyPearFest@gmail.com for more information. (It takes a couple of tries for that email to go through!)

I'll be presenting The Desert Grocery Store—Harvesting the Desert Bean Trees: Palo Verde, Mesquite, and Ironwood including how to identify, when they're ripe, desert "edamame," flour making, flower popcorn, recipes and tastings
​at 10:00 A.M. on August 18th! 
      Guest Speakers
for the Prickly Pear Festival Aug. 18, 2018
 
 
Mark Lewis (who knows every edible plant in Arizona and has written a wonderful book about it):
​  “The Cactus family” ………………………………... 9:00am – 9:45
 
Kelly Athena (Cactus Kelly):  “The Desert Grocery Store: Desert Bean Trees” ……………….10:00am – 10:45
 
Duke Barrett:  “Desert survival basics”……………………………..11:00am – 11:45
 
Diane A. Vaszily:  (Desert Awareness Committee)
Medicinal plants of the desert               ……………………………..12:00pm – 12:45
 
Peggy Sue Sorensen: (The desert Kitchen)“Edible trees” …….……1:00pm -1:45
 
Mike Montiel: (Symbiotic Farms)“TBD”……………………..…….2:00pm -2:45
 
John Slattery: Making Flour from Oak Acorns …...……………….3:00pm – 3:45
 
Jerry Tamerson: Canning and fermenting……………………………4:00pm -4:45

Find this event on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/175086269848581/ ​

More Details about the Prickly Pear Festival from the Superior Chamber of Commerce:

The Seventh Annual Prickly Pear Festival hosted by the Superior Chamber of Commerce is set for Saturday, August 18th 2018, from 7am to 6 pm, in the quaint and dynamic mountain town of Superior, Arizona. The festival celebrates all the edible wonders of the Sonoran Desert while showcasing the many products and health benefits of the Prickly Pear cactus. Along with the festival activities, most of the local restaurants and retail merchants will have special sales and prickly pear items for sale.
This year’s event will feature a Prickly Pear Foraging hike, which begins at 7:00am, those attending the hike should meet at the Superior Municipal Airport located on US 60. Hikers should wear long pants and sleeves along with sturdy shoes. To pick the Prickly Pear fruit, you will need tongs and a bucket or container to hold your fruit.
Following the hike, stop by the Veterans of Foreign War Hall on Main Street for a pancake breakfast, make sure you top your pancakes with the home-made sweet and tangy prickly pear syrup. The cost for breakfast is a generous donation of your choice, the breakfast includes sausage, pancakes, coffee and juice. All proceeds benefit the local VFW Post.
At 9:00 a.m., let the fun begin at the Superior Town Hall, located at 199 Lobb Avenue just a block off of Main Street. This restored school, now the local municipal complex, will play host to many educational speakers on the edible desert, a prickly pear beer making demonstration, live mariachi music, Mexican folklorico dancers, food trucks, the Prickly Pear Pageant and the Cactus Lounge, which will feature the Superior’s famous Prickly Pear Margarita. The vendors, art show and demonstrations will run until 5:00pm. All the speakers will have a vendor's table.  I will be selling Prickly Pear Popsicles, Prickly Pear Concentrate in dropper bottles, desert teas and herbs, hand-painted prickly pear silk scarves, potted plants, vases with fresh herbs, and many other goodies! The Cactus Lounge will close at 6:00pm.
The third annual Prickly Pear Pageant is a pageant that celebrates vintage clothing and a unique theme each year. Prizes are awarded to the contestants, who best showcase the theme of the pageant. This year the theme of the pageant is “Hollywood Inspired”. Participants can contact Tina Casillas at 480-399-5895 or tinamarie2000@gmail.com
The Second Annual Prickly Pear Cook-off will be held from 11:30am to 1:00pm at the Superior Senior Center, located at 360 Main St. Those wishing to enter a dish in the contest should contact Mila Besich-Lira no later than August 1st, 2018. For complete rules and regulations contact azccedc@gmail.com. This year there will be two categories for entries, desserts and main entrees/appetizers. Cash prizes will be awarded. The presentation by contestants will happen between noon and 1:00pm.

New to the festival this year will be the Superior Prickly Pear Margarita Shake Off, hosted in the Cactus Lounge. This event invites local bartenders along with novice bartenders to show off their skills and earn the title as “The Most Superior Prickly Pear Margarita Maker” For more information on contest entry and rules contact the Superior Chamber of Commerce at 520-689-0200 or via email at iamsuperioraz@gmail.com.
​
Superior is located 60 miles east of Downtown Phoenix and is an easy drive on the newly expanded US 60 Highway. For an up to date festival schedule visit our website at www.superiorarizonachamber.org
COPYRIGHT © 2017 SUPERIOR ARIZONA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

May 6, 2018
2:00 - 4:00, Sunday afternoon
Desert Institute of Gardening
4341 E. Broadway Rd., Phoenix, AZ
I'll be leading this workshop on mesquite, paloverde, and ironwood trees. Harvesting, making flour, recipes for medicine, bonbons, roasted paloverde popcorn, pickled paloverde buds, ironwood tea, and much more!
Here is the link to sign up: https://www.regonline.com/desertedibles2018
​
Here I am with a huge ironwood tree in a wash in South Mountain. Please join me for an afternoon of tasting and learning!

We'll walk the neighborhood and wash, harvest plants I have prior permission to, then come back to the kitchen and make tea and tasty dishes.  Plants, seeds, and snacks will be available at no cost to all students. If you need Master Gardener education credit, this class applies toward it.  Available to people of all walking and wheelchair abilities. No pets please.
3-5 p.m. on Sunday, February 18, 2018
Exact address in the Ahwatukee Foothills 85048 is given upon registration. Questions? Walks@kellyathena.com
​Thanks!

Master Gardener Kelly Athena will be holding a workshop on Sunday, January 21, in Ahwatukee 85048.
3-5 p.m.
Educational credit will be given to Master Gardeners.
$20 or bring a friend: 2 people for $30.
​The exact address will be given upon purchase of a ticket.
It's more of a Plant PARTY than a class!

Hands-on demonstration: We will make prickly pear juice--carefully.
We will then proceed to a nearby trail down a dry arroyo, uneven sandy and rocky ground, fairly easy.
We'll talk about medicinal and culinary uses for many plants we see, including desert lavender, ironwood, palo verde, wolfberry, sweetbush, and brittlebush.

Please wear good hiking shoes and socks, sunscreen, hat, and bring water.
​

Tickets available below via Paypal. One person cost is $20. Two people for $30.

First we'll make some prickly pear cactus juice and roast some cactus seeds. Then we'll go out for a walk in the desert with awareness of the culinary, medicinal beings all around us.  Saguaros, Palo Verdes, Ironwood, Mesquite, Lavender, Turpentine Bush, and many other plants will be covered.  3:00 - 5:00
Ahwatukee Foothills.  Exact address given upon registration.
$15 per person:  pay here with Paypal .  Take away new knowledge, new friends, and new plants and seeds from the workshop.  

Cactus Kelly Plant Walk Dec. 3, Sunday, 2017, 3-5 p.m.  You are invited!!

Sunday, October 29, 2017
3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Held in the Ahwatukee Foothills
Address given upon registering for the class

$15 per person.
You'll receive some plants and seeds at the workshop!
Take a walk through desert lavender, palo verde, ironwood, sweetbush, brittlebush, and many more culinary and medicinal
Sonoran Desert plants!  Sorry, not wheelchair accessible this time.
​Next Plant Walks:  Dec. 3, 2017 3-5 p.m., Sunday

​

In my kitchen we'll prepare and roast barrel cactus fruits and seeds that I've collected. Then we'll go out to an urban riparian site, wheelchair accessible. 
​  
We'll harvest barrel cactus fruits, and check out the other wild plants on a nearby plant walk like mesquite, palo verde, ironwood, brittlebush, ragweed, and anything else we discover such as turpentine bush, desert lavender, desert tobacco, dried pineapple chamomile (Oncosiphon piluliferum), and the pesky invasive fountain grass.  

I've got some extra aloe vera plants for everyone that attends.
​
You will get the exact address in Ahwatukee 85048 area near Chandler Blvd. and 24th Street after you register.
You have a place reserved in the workshop when you pay on Paypal or email me at info@kellyathena.com to let me know you are coming and paying at the door. Please sign up by September 20th.  I'll send you a welcome to the class and further information.

Each person goes home with some wild foods and new knowledge.
​
Thanks,
Kelly Athena
Master gardener, Sonoran Desert forager
480-216-0966

​$15 per person on Paypal.  $20 at the door.  Thanks for your interest!

The Paypal registration button is below: Add to Cart.