una maravila de cactus
Cholla (Cylindropuntia)
Welcome! Bien venidos a “MamaTierra”, a field I’m very fond of, where I’ll share all I know about “gifts” from Mother Earth like edible wild plants, trees, bushes and also helpful tips about gardening. I was wondering who’ll be the first, and decided on the Cholla. So you might ask, Why Joyfull? Well ….it’s both delicious and nourishing, spoiling your body with intense energy; ones mind seems to be clearer~ similar to the feeling you get when you drink Aloe Vera Gel.
I was also very content to find my intuition was right: this inner voice saying..hey, surely this is edible!? I believe there is a reason for such abundance! I must give much credit here to my dear friend Joseph Tany, whos instincts I trust immensely when it comes to most wild plants etc.
We were living out of our car during winter for several weeks so we had ample opportunity to try new wild edibles nearly every day. We realized early on that this is a real Mega food! Only later, after eating cholla for about 2 weeks, I started searching for more information and learned about the roll it takes at the Hopis & the Navajos table. It was a great pleasure to know that by simply trusting our instincts we learned the ways of ancient tribes. I went running to Yosef, shouting with excitement about our amazing discovery of the Cholla being a main dish in their diets.
While I was checking on line I came across a video called “Jumping Cholla” which gives another side of the same “Dangerous ” Bush - which attack you!! Wow!! Some say the flavour is of Asparagus & Artichokes ..I cant compare it’s unique taste to anything else I know. You eat the new growth while it’s still young. Flowers are delicious as well. You can steam them lightly or just eat fresh, like vegetables. Cholla buds are low in calories and a 4 ounce serving provides more calcium
than an 8 ounce glass of milk!
The Hopis chew on the roots of Cholla Cactus to treat diarrhea. The Navajos commonly use poultices made of the cleaned joints of Cholla Cactus. They are despined, split lengthwise, heated and applied to relieve the pain of arthritis. Hope is what u get once u handle it with care & respect!
Bon appetit!
THANKS LOVE & APPRICIATION TO ALL NATIVE AMERICANS WHERE EVER YOU ARE. NAMASTE
http://www.nativevillage.org/Messages%20from%20the%20People
http://www.cactus-seeds.com/Articles/MedicalCacti.html
