SAMPLE of what you'll be learning and tasting from Cactus Kelly:

 Any type of mesquite tree bean is edible. Just take a bite around June when they've dried from green to tan and see if they taste sweet. Some beans are chalky and others are sweet.  Make sure the pods taste very sweet, break up the pods into smaller pieces, put up to 2" high's worth in a Vitamix blender, Bullet blender, or coffee grinder, blend it for 30 seconds or until all is made into a meal; put in a cone-shaped grinder and push the meal through with a metate grinder stick like you see in the photo above. Kids love to do this! Keep your mesquite flour in the freezer, as it's sometimes a little moist and you don't want it to molder.

Before making the flour: Dry out the mesquite beans first in the back window of your car with the windows down a little in the summer heat. A bug was laid with every flower on the catkin so it's full of bugs which you can't taste and won't hurt you. They will fly out as the bean dries. They will fly out of your car. More little green flying insects will keep flying out for a year if you keep them in heat or room temp. Freeze them after drying to freeze the bugs and keep the beans from moldering.

Keep the leftover gritty pieces from making the flour. This is called the "mash." Add water and boil it to make a delicious mesquite tea. The more mash you use and the longer you steep it, the stronger and sweeter it tastes. Add cinnamon if you'd like.

​FREE: Learn about the incredible edible desert: How to identify and harvest beans from the paloverde, mesquite, and ironwood trees, and harvesting weeds and cactus fruits! This event is hosted by the Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market through the Original Arizona speaker series of Chmachyakyakya Kurikuri.
Presentation from 10-10:45 includes the audience making mesquite bean flour! I'll answer questions and you can buy products such as prickly pear juice, weed chips, paloverde beans, and herbal tea until 12:30.

WHEN: 
Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 10 AM – 12:30 PM

WHERE:
The booth where I'll be presenting is in the SW corner of the Farmers Market. ​This event is hosted by the Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market through the Original Arizona speaker series of Chmachyakyakya Kurikuri. The booth has banners that say "Original Arizona" and "Chmachyakyakya."

Old Town Farmers Market in Scottsdale:
E 1st St at N Brown Ave, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251

More details:
http://www.facebook.com/events/809799202730495/

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.
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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

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