When I was a child,
I talked like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man,
I put childish ways behind me.
Chica was a rescued little puppy when we got her almost two years ago. No information on her past was available… she was tiny, emaciated, nearly starving and full of worms. But she had more energy and life from the beginning than I have ever seen in my life.
Perhaps due to early separation from her mother, she had a tendency to want to suckle on anything she found…. blanket corners, towels etc.
Then we came by two little dehydrated kitties who’s mother had been killed. We had to work hard to save them… they had to be bottle fed for a week or two, then we switched them to lapping milk replacer, and then slowly to finely ground wet cat food.
Chica the orphaned Chihuahua took pity upon the poor little kitties, she would often nestle carefully with them in their little box…. she’d gather them to her and treat them as if they were her puppies. Now they are very close…. and the kittens are approaching her size. Within the next few months they will greatly outclass her in size and jumping ability.
A surprising side-effect…. Chica is no longer suckling on anything she sees….. she has advanced to the next stage of life thanks to the little orphaned kitties. And she has taken the trauma she went through at losing her mother too young, and given herself as a replacement mother…. hopefully the good she is doing will help the two kitties grow up with little trauma at having lost their mother so young.
Here’s a little video showing how close Chica and Tony are
Matthew 23:37
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her!
How often I wanted to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
Texas Recipes yes… Texas visit… eh, maybe not so much
Texas…. it’s a pretty interesting place… but after almost getting arrested by San Antonio Police for a very simple misunderstanding (it had a lot to do with my big floppy hat, long hair, bushy beard and a knife I carried), I don’t know if I want to go back again.
But I found a very informative website called Texas’s Best Recipes. Great videos, great recipes.
One of the great things about this great country is we can live where our lifestyle, wants and needs are accepted and appreciated or at least tolerated. Yet we still band together as a tightly knit conglomeration of states under a big (hopefully loose) federal banner. While me, walking around in the California woods with a knife is accepted here…. most Texan municipalities consider a pocket knife to be a concealed weapon. Ehh, ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse’… OK, I’ll go along with that…. but after all the travel I did for the first half of my life so far…. I’m really enjoying settling back in one little tiny spot…. not moving much at all. I know this canyon, I know these animals and the small number of people…. Texas Rangers can come back into our canyon if they want…. and I’ll probably treat them better than the San Antonio Police treated me… but still… I think the Rangers ought to stay on their own place… and I’ll stay on my own… so long Texas.. no offense, but until I shave and cut my hair, and dress nicer with no knives on me… I don’t think I’ll be visiting again. I just don’t know if I’ll inadvertently do something not seen as right in Texas and end up in the pokey….
Now, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against Texas or Texans (some of my best friends are Texans, har har, but they moved to California….). While there’s benefits to our system of statehood with sometimes-widely-differing laws and customs between states…. I prefer to stay home.. safe in the refuge of Rivenrock…. where the laws of nature apply more than the laws of man. I know nature much more than I know people.
Some great bands have come from Texas…. one is the incomparable Willie Nelson who made it through decades of Texas and still kept his beard and hair… way to go Willie!
~Willie Nelson~
‘I’d have to be crazy’
I’d have to be crazy
to stop all my singin’
and never play music again.
You’d call me a fool
if I grabbed up a top hat
and ran out to flag down the wind.
I’d have to be weird
to grow me a beard
just to see what the Rednecks would do.
But I’d have to be crazy
plumb out of my mind
to fall out of love with you.
I know I’ve done weird things
I’ve told people I heard things
when silence was all abounds
been days when it pleased me
to be on my knees,
following ants as they crawled along the ground
been insane on a train
but I’m still ‘me’ again
and the place where I hold you is true
So I know I’m alright
cause I’d have to be crazy
to fall out of love with you
You know I
and I don’t intend to
But should there come a day,
when I say that I don’t love you
You’ll lock me away.
I sure would be dingy
to live in an envelope
waiting alone for a stamp
You’d swear I was loco
to rub for a genie
while burnin’ my hand on the lamp
And I may not be normal
but nobody is
so I’d like to say ‘fore I’m through
I’d have to be crazy
plumb out of my mind
to fall out of love with you
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Now, he didn’t come from Texas… but Charlie Daniels does have the attitude of a Westerner…. and an Appalachian…. and like so many of the other wonderful places and peoples we have here in this wonderful, eccentric, bright and beautiful land.
~Charlie Daniels~
‘Long Haired Country Boy’
People say I’m no good,
And crazy as a loon.
Cause I get stoned in the morning,
And get drunk in the afternoon.
Kinda like my old blue-tick hound,
I like to lay around in the shade,
And I ain’t got no money,
But I damn sure got it made.
‘Cause I ain’t askin’ nobody for nothin’,
If I can’t get it on my own.
If you don’t like the way I’m a-livin’,
You just leave this long-haired country boy alone.
I came by an informative article on the efficacy of Prickly Pear Cactus for the normalization of blood sugar levels and other health issues such as Cholesterol, and weight.
The article written by Winston F. Craig, Ph.D., R.D., who is professor of nutrition at Andrews University is titled ‘Cactus prickly pear helps normalize blood sugar’. Here’s a quote from the article….
“The stems of prickly pear cactus contain substantial levels of pectin and other soluble fibers. It’s the fiber content that is believed to be responsible for the ability of the cactus to lower blood sugar and blood lipid levels. Broiling the cactus stems apparently increases its ability to lower blood glucose levels. About 400-500 grams (one half pound) of broiled cactus stems is the typical dose needed for the effect. The high content of pectin also provides the consumer with a sense of abdominal fullness. This property may play a role in the use of prickly pear cactus for weight reduction”
I was in the Army…. it seems so long ago…. so misty of a time… but I still remember the awesomeness of raising my hand to take this oath….
“I, John Dicus, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the president of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
I felt the same depth of commitment when I took Vickie’s hand and married her….
Many cactus species come from areas that get little winter water, but get seasonal monsoon showers in the summertime. Monsoons are nothing more that a sudden downpour of water… often it will put down a good amount of water causing flooding. Then the rain may stop not to return for weeks. The cactus we have that like summertime water grow much better when given an adequate supply of water in the summer… they especially like to get watered well when it is very hot. Heat, water and good soil will combine to put out good growth of high quality.. tender, succulent, moist edible nopal cactus… the calcium lined cells just packed with deliciousness, ready to pop with internal pressure from a bite.
Yes, even cactus does better when watered. But you don’t want to overdo it, that will lead to rot. The weeks between rains is what allows the plant to dry out, and recuperate from the wetness…. yet always ready to take up water when afforded the opportunity.
Nopalea grande
This photo shows some of our Nopalea grande plantings.
The terraces are facing due south…
the plants are open to daylong sunshine
with no shading from neighbors to their south.
This gives maximum sun exposure to these plants.
It also results in soil that can dry faster due to more sun exposure.
Again, this is good for our cactus.
The faster draining soil keeps rots and necrosis down.
When we water, the plants will quickly take up the moisture,
then after five days, when we water again,
the soil has already gotten relatively dry.
We mainly water with micro sprinklers.
They work best for us.
We’ve laid out miles of drip-line, but find that with our slope,
soil drainage factors, exposure and especially crop,
we get better results from each gallon of irrigation water
if it is sprinkled over the surface,
to settle a few inches into the soil and be taken up by the spreading plant roots,
which in the case of these cactus are very shallow,
only a few inches below the soil surface.
The plants spread their roots like the spokes from a hub…
spreading out shallowly, ready to take up that storm burst when it comes.
The water in the desert will not often sink in in most areas…
the soil two feet down is generally dry…
it is the surface that has a little bit of water for a short time after a storm.
That is where these roots lie, and where I need to get the water…
not in a cone shape feet deep into the soil as a drip system gives
(and which works great for deep-rooted plants like most trees and tomatoes).
Opuntia ficus-indica
These tall ‘Cow Tongue’ cactus are watered using overhead sprinklers
set about seven feet above the ground.
This is so the water stream can reach over the tops
of the tall plants and water deep into the patch.
These plants are all kept at seven to eight feet…
above that they are too tall to easily manage.
A fellow named ‘M’ at a major zoo just purchased a fifty pound box of our ‘Super Economy’ Grade ‘D’ cactus. This is the best cactus to use for feeding reptiles, or making stews or other cactus dishes that will get a bit of cooking… they are in general the thicker older leaves, twisted and bent etc…. fine for feeding a tortoise though… or for a chili or stew recipe that will cook them some.
This is what he said…
” I wanted to let you know that the cactus pads arrived this afternoon and they look great! I really appreciate it. I’ll be in touch, I’m sure to purchase more once all of this is used up. I did have a question about whether or not you sell the fruit too. If so I’d be interested in hearing prices for that as well.”
Great M, we’re glad you like the leaves. I’d be interested in finding out how the tortoises and other animals responded initially, and again later after having gotten used to the leaves. From what people tell us… captive raised animals who’ve never eaten cactus initially approach it cautiously… but after a few bites they decide they like it a lot. And the next time the handler approaches with a cactus leaf, the animal will instantly recognize it, and respond in such a way that the keeper is often astonished at how much the animal relishes the cactus.
We will be selling fruits later this summer when they start to ripen. We have five varieties we grow for fruit…. and soon the harvest will begin.
We get occasional inquiries from folks in other countries for our cactus. The international laws on plant exchanges are particularly brutal to cactus. Cactus is listed as a CITES II (Committee for the International Trade in Endangered Species) endangered species. We found an exemption years ago in the requirement that the Opuntia cactus we grow can be exempt if the plants are verified to be grown in a ‘plantation-like setting’. Due to this exemption we were able to get a ‘Protected Plant Permit’ by appealing to the Federal Government (always capitalize The Feds… they are a deity in their own minds), submitting photographic proof that we indeed grow the plants we sell, and paying fees (that’s the real ticket to getting anything done with the govt). Using this and other documentations (you can see our licenses in general at ‘Rivenrock Licenses’)… a colleague in Canada was able to get permission to import our cactus into Canada. He is now selling our cactus through his own site at Sierra Madre Cactus Company Canada.
This makes it very easy for us now… we can merely send him the cactus he has requests for, and he takes care of all the cactus sales in Canada through his own company. So anyone in Canada that is searching for edible nopal cactus can go to Sierra Madre Cactus Company Canada and get the leaves we grow ourselves.
I’m like “eh, I’m kinda busy enough already”. But reading more about it, I think if I can make some interesting posts, you never know if I might turn the world onto the cool power of cactus. So, you can find us from the link below on Twitter….
