Tis' the season ..for Pods..

[Silas_Sancona]

Tis' the season for bountiful harvests off one of the most underrated trees in the desert.  A tree that doesn't flinch in the heat, endures punishing drought, and shrugs off the cold ..and provides more environmental / ecological benefits than many comprehend   ..or choose to acknowledge.   Excluding areas of the world where they are not native  ..and shouldn't be planted,   see  Neltuma  sps as a weed?,   that is the wrong way to view these trees. 

It is also a tree that has nourished both humans and many other animals for millennia, and may play a major part in nourishing people in the future. 

While a couple people i know did offer up their thoughts on what the exact Neltuma species " The Beast "  might be,  i'm still trusting my gut, for now at least. I still haven't contacted a couple other people who have worked with the Genus a bit more who might get me closer to a concrete ID.

Because i wasn't able to get to the tree before a majority of the pods were shed, i can't use this year's harvest for making Mesquite Syrup or take them to have them processed into flour for Tortillas.

Simply put, folks with proper knowledge / experience regarding the harvest of Mesquite pods will always suggest collecting off the tree / knocking pods onto tarps,  rather than the use / processing of  pods that have laid on the ground for any length of time due to the potential for acquiring fungi that can contain high levels of Aflatoxin,  esp once the pods have been soaked a couple times by rainfall,  or before storing.    ALWAYS  store Mesquite pods dry..

So, in a nutshell, the " good " pods in this years harvest will be processed for seed bank purposes only..  That said, this was one of the better years in a few, and there are still pods on the tree ..so i may try to knock off a few and make a test batch of Syrup. 

Pods are as sweet as the last good harvest a couple years ago as well  ..Which further adds to my confidence in how anything made from them should taste.







**** As mentioned above, the American portion of the Mesquites have been assigned a new Genus name  = Neltuma,   with Prosopis  being assigned to the " Old world " species from the Middle East / India only.

Anyone / anyone in the Hort. / Nursery trades in the Americas who might still cling to the old name for our Mesquites should not be considered a highly knowledgeable source of information regarding the Genus..  Period..

Additionally, the " Screw Bean " section of Mesquite species have all been assigned the New Genus name of  Strombocarpa   ...Again,  ...it is Strombocarpa,    ....Not  Prosopis.    ****