Canuck Cacti

upnorth

upnorth

Joined
Nov 25, 2006
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I decided to try the indigenous Cactus that grows on the southern slopes out here. The thorns are really bad and remind me of porcupine quills. They are very resistant to being pulled out. Anyway, I found my Ti Emberlit after having it hide on me in a box for a few months. So I cooked a chunk and ate one raw. Raw has almost zero flavour and isn't good or bad to eat. The down side is the limited food volume left after peeling. The up side is that with a quick cooking the needles are no longer an issue and the flesh takes on a strangely mild flavour close to guacamole. I suppose if a fellow was up the creek he could put a pile of these things into a fire or on rocks for a feed. After cooking, the flesh can be squeezed out quickly making it viable to make a meal out of them. Sorry about the weak pics, I forget to put the auto focus on.




 
I have watched Les and a couple of other survival guys spend lots of time scraping off every last glocket (fine stickery hairs), and have wondered why they didn't just do as you did. Just use a skewer and burn off the thorns. Good job.

Doc
 
We have a great deal of them here in Israel
They are called Sabras

They have prickles called glochids that are very small and very sharp and very painful and get everywhere
Picked with stout leather gloves
Rolled in the dirt to get ride of the glochids
I read that the Mexicans burn them off

When ripe they are wonderful fruits

If there is a survival fruit here in the arid scrub, then Sabras are it.
 
DocGP said:
I have watched Les and a couple of other survival guys spend lots of time scraping off every last glocket (fine stickery hairs), and have wondered why they didn't just do as you did. Just use a skewer and burn off the thorns. Good job.

Doc
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A glocket, well I'll be darned. Man those things are vicious. I brushed some across my ankle and it was itchy for fifteen minutes.
 
neeman said:
We have a great deal of them here in Israel
They are called Sabras

They have prickles called glochids that are very small and very sharp and very painful and get everywhere
Picked with stout leather gloves
Rolled in the dirt to get ride of the glochids
I read that the Mexicans burn them off

When ripe they are wonderful fruits

If there is a survival fruit here in the arid scrub, then Sabras are it.
Click to expand...

I hear you buddy. Nature is so amazing at times. Those glocket prickles seem to pierce and grab with the faintest touch. I gave up using fingers and manipulated with knife and stick. And thanks for the info, it is appreciated.
 
stabman said:
Neat! :)
I need to learn way more about wild edibles.
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There must be a pile of cool stuff in B.C. All I ever picked was asparagus and puffball mushrooms as a kid in southern Ontario. I know about 2-3 mushrooms here in Sask., other than that, zippity doo da. I'm glad that I can toss a small book in a pack. I saw some weird orange berries today hunting for old bottles in the bush, so I'll pop open that book and check things out.
 
The southern variety has "tunas" which are deep maroon when ripe and taste great. I had a hard time convincing a Puerto Rican buddy to try one, but he was impressed after I sliced a chunk for him. The green pads are sliced and cooked here, but I stick to an occasional tuna as they are just a great fruit. Damn thorns are horrible though. In hard times (pretty much most years), the south Texas ranchers use torches to burn the thorns so the cattle can eat the cactus. The wildlife eat them anyway as a staple. I've seen javelina with thorns stuck everywhere in their faces. Seemed no worse for the wear. I didn't realize Canada had cactus.
 
jdk1 said:
I didn't realize Canada had cactus.
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Yes, in the west on south facing slopes. I have seen it, surprisingly, quite a ways to the north. I wanted to see if the fruits made it through winter and were an emergency food source, but I couldn't find any in the snow last year. The larger fruiting ears must die off as the Cactus is barely a clump of nubs in spring. Other than catching small game, deer and buffalo, I really don't know how the Indians made it through the bitter winters out on the northern prairies. Maybe they smoked a lot of meat ?
 
DocGP said:
I have watched Les and a couple of other survival guys spend lots of time scraping off every last glocket (fine stickery hairs), and have wondered why they didn't just do as you did. Just use a skewer and burn off the thorns. Good job.
Click to expand...

In South Texas (ranch lands), buring off the thorns so the cattle can eat the prickly pear is a common activity. Never tried eating one.... guess I might if I was hungry.
 
upnorth said:
Yes, in the west on south facing slopes. I have seen it, surprisingly, quite a ways to the north. I wanted to see if the fruits made it through winter and were an emergency food source, but I couldn't find any in the snow last year. The larger fruiting ears must die off as the Cactus is barely a clump of nubs in spring. Other than catching small game, deer and buffalo, I really don't know how the Indians made it through the bitter winters out on the northern prairies. Maybe they smoked a lot of meat ?
Click to expand...

That's a good question. I used to wonder the same thing about Indians in south Texas. What I discovered was that south Texas was totally different prior to the Civil war era. Over grazing by cattle and sheep/goats destroyed part of the state. The Indians lived in a cooler, more bountiful grassland with year round flowing rivers. Much of it is now a scalding, hellish, death-by-a-thousand-thorns, wasteland enduring constant drought. South Texas was the southern tip of the Great Plains at one time, but you'd never know it now. The northern reaches may have been different as well. The northern Indians probably had game whenever they wanted it and may have had a bounty of edible plants at their feet part of the year.
 
jdk1 said:
That's a good question. I used to wonder the same thing about Indians in south Texas. What I discovered was that south Texas was totally different prior to the Civil war era. Over grazing by cattle and sheep/goats destroyed part of the state. The Indians lived in a cooler, more bountiful grassland with year round flowing rivers. Much of it is now a scalding, hellish, death-by-a-thousand-thorns, wasteland enduring constant drought. South Texas was the southern tip of the Great Plains at one time, but you'd never know it now. The northern reaches may have been different as well. The northern Indians probably had game whenever they wanted it and may have had a bounty of edible plants at their feet part of the year.
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Interesting information. I believe that the regional natives sought shelter in the winter around here in the sheltered valley ravines. Yes the plains surely had no borders and basically ran slightly from north west Alberta and Saskatchewan on the upper tip here. Alberta was one of the last bastions of the buffalo up here before the near decimation. The unique eco zone around Alberta's proximity to mountains, and the Chinook winds (making a winter very mild) off of the mountains, made for a lush green zone. Some of the final and most vicious battles between the Cree and Blackfoot Indians up here were over the last of the vanishing buffalo herds.... I was metal detecting an old wagon trail today and it abruptly ended in a field of wheat, just like most of the land up around here now. The old trails are long gone in most areas due to agriculture.
 
Looking good. I have also used books to help increase my understanding of wild edibles but even when 100% sure the first time with a new (to me) wild edible does have a certain edge for lack of a better word to it.
 
Woods Walker said:
Looking good. I have also used books to help increase my understanding of wild edibles but even when 100% sure the first time with a new (to me) wild edible does have a certain edge for lack of a better word to it.
Click to expand...

I know and trust very few indigenous plants. I picked wild asparagus as a child, white puff ball mushrooms in apple orchards and Shaggy Mane mushrooms in the fall. Several years ago I was with a person that grew up eating a certain Bolette mushroom and Chanterelles. I picked with them and ate an incredible Borscht soup. I had pics of myself holding my containers of Chanterelles, but I can't find them. There are other minor plants that I recognize but do not use or put much effort into studying. My interest fluctuates at any given time. But there is always at least moderate interest at all times. I have always found a walk outside to be interesting. These plant ID books can be quite surprising at times. It is another reminder though that even the ID books have many cautions and warnings around collecting. When I scan through these books I recognize a lot of plants, but I realize that I know next to nothing about most of them. The better books are worth every nickel. But yes, caution, caution, caution.
 
Woods Walker said:
Looking good. I have also used books to help increase my understanding of wild edibles but even when 100% sure the first time with a new (to me) wild edible does have a certain edge for lack of a better word to it.
Click to expand...

I know and trust very few indigenous plants. I picked wild asparagus as a child, white puff ball mushrooms in apple orchards and Shaggy Mane mushrooms in the fall. Several years ago I was with a person that grew up eating a certain Bolette mushroom and Chanterelles. I picked with them and ate an incredible Borscht soup. I had pics of myself holding my containers of Chanterelles, but I can't find them. There are other minor plants that I recognize but do not use or put much effort into studying. My interest fluctuates at any given time. But there is always at least moderate interest at all times. I have always found a walk outside to be interesting. These plant ID books can be quite surprising at times. It is another reminder though that even the ID books have many cautions and warnings around collecting. When I scan through these books I recognize a lot of plants, but I realize that I know next to nothing about most of them. The better books are worth every nickel. But yes, caution, caution, caution.
 
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