In a message dated 4/4/2001 11:54:15 AM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:


>
>
> Native people grind the beans with mano and metate (hand stone and grinding
> stone). Maybe a blender would work, or apparently you can buy home stone
> grinders on one of the paleo websites. You would have to husk the beans
> first. I do plan to actually do this in the near future. How is it
> pronounced? The word looks Spanish, so presumably it should be mes-KEE-te,
> not mes-KEET. We have it out in the desert. I plan to try and gather some
> when I know more about it.
>
>

Thanks for the info, Charles! I find your posts very informative and
interesting. I hope you will write and tell about how you worked with the
beans.

I have a large yard full of large mesquite trees. We have an abundance of the
beans (bushels and bushels) toward the end of summer.
One of my dogs is fond of the dried pods, holding them between his paws and
eating them like a carrot. :)
When our "bean" crop comes in, I am going to see what I can do with them.

I have read that mesquite trees grow in Africa.

We also have alot of prickly pear cactus and another very thorny shrub that
produces dark blue berries that look somewhat like fat blueberries. I was
told by a local that they are wild persimmons, but I am not sure what they
are yet. I tasted them and they were quite sweet. They would make good dye as
they stained my fingers dark blue for a couple of days. Any idea what they
might be?
I need to get a book about our local plants...there are so many things around
here that go uneaten that are probably extremely healthy and tasty.

Mary C.
I