Don't forget to wear Snake boots

Harvesting Prickly Pears

I first tasted Prickly Pear Jelly in Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas and I knew I wanted to include this new brand in my jams and jellies.  First of all, I asked myself why United, Whole Foods, or other grocery stores did not carry Prickly Pear Jelly??  I searched on the Internet and only found a few makers of prickly pear or cactus jelly.  WHY?  If you try to harvest the prickly pear, you will understand very quickly why there is no prickly pear jelly on your grocer's shelf.  The reason is:  It is very, very labor intensive and there is danger involved.. Danger being.. RATTLESNAKES.. Yes, Rattlesnakes. 

We have prickly pears in the Panhandle and they have a small red tuna.  The tuna is the fruit of the plant and the pad is called a nopale.  The tunas are harvested for the jams, jellies, and butters at Jams Gone Wild.  The Native Americans used the prickly pear for dyes and also for eating.  Today, the prickly pear is gaining in popularity because of it's medicinal qualities, which I will go into detail in another blog.  The tuna's are packed full of vitamin C and full of antioxidants.  For these reasons, I decided I wanted to add cactus jelly to my products.  First of all, it is very unique and I liked the jelly when I tasted it in Las Vegas.  If you create new, unique products, customers usually respond

 I ventured out in the Panhandle Wilderness in search of ripe tunas last September.  I wore Dr. Marten boots, cowboy hat, jeans,cotton gloves, but no snake boots.  At that time, I did not know about snake boots, let alone, where to buy them. So off we go and it was close to sundown.  I started towards a huge patch of prickly pears and suddenly, rattle, rattle, rattle to the 10th power.  It was the first time I had ever heard that rattling noise.  I saw the 6 foot snake coiled around the prickly pears and slowly back away..Luckily, I made it back to the car safe and sound.  Native Americans believe you must My brother, an experienced sportsman, told me I could not harvest prickly pears unless I purchased some snake boots.  He showed me his and they were really very cool looking.  This year, I will purchase these boots when I harvest near my brother's ranch in Abilene.

So if you do pick prickly pears this is the attire you need:
If you don't want to pick them, just let me do it for you..:)

Hat
Welding Leather Gloves
Long Sleeved Shirt
Long Pants
Snake boots
Tongs
Water
Sunglasses
Tweezers or Duct Tape to pull out the thorns...
Bucket

My naturalist friends told me the best time to pick prickly pears when the snakes wouldn't be there is the heat of the day.  So when you are eating my cactus jelly, think about the process of harvesting these prickly little suckers out in the wild. In conclusion, part of the process is the adventure and I enjoy it.  In the next blog, I will include some recipes using the cactus jelly and some Native American Recipes.