Prickly Pear Fruit Class at 10:30 a.m.
Labor Day, September 7

        If you have sipped a prickly pear margarita (served at many Phoenix-area restaurants) or sampled the sweet cactus candy made by Tucson-based Cheri's Desert Harvest, you already know there's nothing which quite compares to the magenta color of juice from the prickly pear cacti that are common at this elevation. September 7 at 10:30 a.m., Labor Day Monday, the Arboretum offers a one-hour class where visitors will learn how to harvest these fruits without your hands becoming a virtual porcupine of painful cactus spines and glochids. There's no pre-registration required; this class is included with regular admission of $7.50 for adults, or $3 for ages 5-12.

        Apache Junction author Jean Groen (Foods of the Superstitions) will explain how to pick, juice, and prepare opuntia fruits -- also describing cactus fruit and their nutritional value before we stroll onto the grounds to demonstrate how to harvest enough pears for a batch of juice or jelly. Back at the Visitor Center participants will learn techniques to remove most of the spines, as well as how to extract the subtle, watermelony-tasting juice from these forbidding fruits. Jean will also discuss prickly pear jelly and other recipes from her book. These cacti are of the Opuntia genus, and we'll share a cool, refreshing, freshly-blended pitcher of prickly pear, banana, yoguty and pineapple juice smoothie!

        Cactus fruits begin to ripen during July and continue through August. Labor Day marks the end of the season and fruits will be harder to find during September. They're simple enough to harvest, in fact commercial juicers work quite well once the fruits are de-spined.

        The image at right shows Arizona State Parks Volunteer Lindsay Delashmutt processing prickly pears three years back so visitors could sample their juice. Prickly pears are an excellent choice as a landscape plant throughout Maricopa, Pinal, Gila and Pima Counties, and they thrive throughout the Sonoran Desert. Please keep in mind that a permit is required to harvest prickly pear fruit, or any other materials, from public lands, and you must always seek permission before picking fruit from plants that aren't on your own property. If you're interested in recipes using prickly pear juice we suggest "The Prickly Pear Cookbook" and also "American Indian Cooking" by Carolyn Niethammer or "Gathering the Desert" by Gary Paul Nabhan. These are available in our bookstore, where you'll also find pure condensed prickly pear syrup made by Cheri's Desert Harvest of Tucson.

       Boyce Thompson Arboretum is located 55 miles due East of Phoenix via highways 60, right near milepost #223 as you approach the historic copper mining town of Superior. For other directions or details call 520.689.2811


RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGE