Current Workshops

Our next Mesquite Milling will take place on November 12, 2011, at the Cascabel Community Center. You can bring your mesquite pods for milling into flour. Milling is free for non-commercial home use, though donations are gratefully accepted.

There will be a full day of festivities, beginning at 9:00 AM with a mesquite pancake and waffle breakfast, followed by milling, music, and local foods potluck, which usually starts about 1:00 PM.

Gathering suggestions:

Mesquite pods can ripen anytime from late June through September or October, depending on conditions. Ripe pods are dry and brittle and come off the tree with little pulling. Even green pods can be picked and allowed to ripen as they dry. We do not recommend gathering pods from the ground, as they are more likely to carry molds which can produce toxins.

After gathering, rinse the pods, then dry them in the sun until very dry and brittle. Store in a dry place until milling day. We don't worry much about bugs hatching out during storage, but the week before milling we do bring the pods out and put them in the sun again, which seems to mostly get rid of bugs that hatched during storage.