Cactus juice/smoothie (prickly pear)

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

l always pass a large bunch of cactus plants and pull to the side of the road and take the red fruit-like flowers for a meal during the winter, but l never knew you could actually eat the big green pickly pads. Anyone ever consumed prickly pear juice or had it as a smoothie?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wuLfCuczjQ&feature=em-uploademail

l think l might blend or juice one big cactus pad each week. Only 5 minutes drive away.

lt's amazing how there is so much free food that no-one ever bothers with. This will be another great meal free from nature we can add to our list.

[Living Food]

lt's amazing how there is so much free food that no-one ever bothers with.

Indeed. I'm currently trying to find more information on trees that have edible leaves, as a single tree could provide an amazing amount of juice. Not much luck so far though, although there's plenty of pine trees that I could make pine needle juice from. I think I'll try that soon. Pine needles have unique antioxidants and other compounds.

I'm also going to go looking for nut trees in the forest near me, I think I might have some black walnut trees around here somewhere.

Cacti don't grow where I live.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

l am going to start buying all the wild weed and flower books. Even lavenda flowers are good, so one day l aim to have a glass of lavenda flower juice to see how it makes me feel. Lavenda flowers is classified as a four star food...slightly below micro-greens and on the same level as conventional green sprouts. Flowers appeal to me because of the colours...not many pink or purple foods in nature. l think flowers have a special power from nature that is unique, but lavenda is appealing because l can pick more of it with ease.

[MysticTree]

l am going to start buying all the wild weed and flower books. Even lavenda flowers are good, so one day l aim to have a glass of lavenda flower juice to see how it makes me feel. Lavenda flowers is classified as a four star food...slightly below micro-greens and on the same level as conventional green sprouts. Flowers appeal to me because of the colours...not many pink or purple foods in nature. l think flowers have a special power from nature that is unique, but lavenda is appealing because l can pick more of it with ease.
It's very strong if you have it neat.

[Living Food]

I agree with flowers having unique and special properties, and I also want to add more of them to my diet because there is a limited array of colors you can get from sprouts, but there's a flower for just about every color.

I too am planning on buying lots of wild edible plant and flower books, so that I can

1. Have a larger array of weeds to choose from
2. Make progress on my goal of adding large amounts of weed sprouts to my diet
3. Increase the number and variety of flowers in my diet

I am also looking for a foraging instructor or experienced forager in my area to teach me. Learning from someone who knows what they are doing is by far the best way to learn about wild plants.


It's very strong if you have it neat.

The stronger the better!

You tend to have different values as a sproutarian, my favorite juices now are the ones that are so strong they used to burn my mouth and be nearly intolerable. That's where the real nutrition is.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

I agree with flowers having unique and special properties, and I also want to add more of them to my diet because there is a limited array of colors you can get from sprouts, but there's a flower for just about every color.

I too am planning on buying lots of wild edible plant and flower books, so that I can

1. Have a larger array of weeds to choose from
2. Make progress on my goal of adding large amounts of weed sprouts to my diet
3. Increase the number and variety of flowers in my diet

We are both on the same page with this. Sproutarians want nothing but the best dinner possible. lt's not about pandering to our taste buds with light weight party foods, it's about maximising performance. Why be slaves to your taste buds...sproutarians rise above that mind-set and take it to the next level.


I am also looking for a foraging instructor or experienced forager in my area to teach me. Learning from someone who knows what they are doing is by far the best way to learn about wild plants.
Me too. l ended up missing a weed instructor last year by about a week.




The stronger the better!
You betcha!!! l want to be consuming the strongest most powerfully potent juices humanly possible. The stronger it is, the more i'm gonna drink it.


You tend to have different values as a sproutarian, my favorite juices now are the ones that are so strong they used to burn my mouth and be nearly intolerable. That's where the real nutrition is.
Sproutarian values are always different. Give me weeds, give me potent flowers, and give me all the strong stuff and i'm a happy camper.

The more a juice burns my mouth out, the bigger my smile. The more bitter and intense a juice is, the bigger my smile. Only the top draw drinks for this sproutarian.

Forest weeds are always much more potent than farm weeds. Forest weeds make me feel like a fire breathing dragon!

[Living Food]

You betcha!!! l want to be consuming the strongest most powerfully potent juices humanly possible. The stronger it is, the more i'm gonna drink it.

Sproutarian values are always different. Give me weeds, give me potent flowers, and give me all the strong stuff and i'm a happy camper.

The more a juice burns my mouth out, the bigger my smile. The more bitter and intense a juice is, the bigger my smile. Only the top draw drinks for this sproutarian.

Exactly!

I recently found a patch of wild mint in rich, dark, loamy soil. It was the most potent juice I've ever had, it really burned my mouth out, and boy did I love it! No wimpy fruits and veggie juices for me.

I sometimes wonder if fruitarians just tell themselves that its the best diet possible as an excuse to eat fruit all day. Well, I'm far beyond that stage. I enjoy bitter, potent, intense weed juices as much as fruit now. It's amazing how the taste buds can change.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

No wimpy veggie juices for me.



Exactly. l wouldn't even touch vegie juices, no way! Veggie juices are party foods. l prefer to avoid fruit most of the time too because there are much better things to eat that make me feel better. lnstead of fruits, l prefer a sprouted bird seed smoothie (30 second blend of millet sprouts) and i'm good to go for hours.

[Living Food]

The only fruit I eat is wild fruit right off the plant, and occasionally organic local fruit right off the plant. Most of the year I do just fine with no fruit whatsoever.

[MysticTree]

And you would have to juice pounds abs pounds of flowers just to get even a drop. It's a very dry plant.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

And you would have to juice pounds abs pounds of flowers just to get even a drop. It's a very dry plant.

Good point. l'll have to put my thinking cap on and find a much bigger flower perhaps. There is no way i'm giving up on flower juice...l will find a way to make it happen somehow. l want all the colours of the rainbow in my diet.

[Living Food]

If need be you could just eat the flowers. Although I'd rather juice them if it was possible.

[MysticTree]

dandelion flowers are edible and juicier . . . But not purple. Thistle flowers? Are they edible?

[delmar]

I don't know about smoothies but I would love a few slabs of that to trow in my juice press a couple times a week!

http://www.my-photo-gallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Prickly-Pear-Cactus-300x225.jpg

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

dandelion flowers are edible and juicier . . . But not purple. Thistle flowers? Are they edible?

Thistle flowers are good, but it hard to collect enough of them.

[Living Food]

The thing I don't like about juicing dandelion flowers (and other plants that have edible sprouts) is that you miss out on a few dozen dandelion sprouts for every flower you juice.

[MysticTree]

My experience of dandelions is that they grow profusely enough for this not to matter and you can't have everything every which way.

[delmar]

Yup, as long as you have plenty of trusted places to pick them you don't miss a thing. The place where I work has 27 acres. Probably 15 acres of woods and a fair bit of open meadow that is not sprayed with anything. (I know the maintenance guys) I'm pretty sure that, if every employee in my building started to forage, we wouldn't get all the dandelions or all the garlic mustard greens.

[MysticTree]

Yup, as long as you have plenty of trusted places to pick them you don't miss a thing. The place where I work has 27 acres. Probably 15 acres of woods and a fair bit of open meadow that is not sprayed with anything. (I know the maintenance guys) I'm pretty sure that, if every employee in my building started to forage, we wouldn't get all the dandelions or all the garlic mustard greens.
Exactly :o)

[Living Food]

Unfortunately most of the places where dandelions grow near me are sprayed. I will start driving even further out of my way to find more good dandelion areas come spring.

I'm coming to visit you Delmar :)

[Living Food]

I do have plenty of garlic mustard, clover, plantain, and some other weeds, though.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Unfortunately most of the places where dandelions grow near me are sprayed. I will start driving even further out of my way to find more good dandelion areas come spring.

That is my problem too.


I'm coming to visit you Delmar :)
Delmar is very lucky.