Getting beaned

 A sunrise walk along the canal east of Longmore Rd. in Mesa.  It's flat but provides some nice views of the surrounding mountains.  Even better there's plenty of mesquite trees, allowing me to combine two interests...hiking and harvesting beans for flour.  

Starting around 5:15am I hiked 4.2 miles on the canal (round trip).  Wildlife...a white egret, quail, more than a few burrowing owls.  It's pleasant until the sun comes up.  After 9:30am, forget it.  Not worth being outside unless you want to bake.  It's called "summer schedule."

After hiking I gathered two more cloth bags full of beans.  See the photo below for what I've got to work with...a full bucket of beans.  I want to grab what I can before it rains, just to be safe.  From what they told me at the Pima Museum, it's OK to pick beans even after it rains...as long as the beans are dry.  I'd read where you need to pick before the first monsoon rain.  Just to be double safe, I emailed Salt River Pima to confirm that it's OK.  If so, I could be picking all summer!

Visited the Arrowhead Farmers Market yesterday.  I spoke with a couple vendors and neither were familiar with mesquite flour.  And one of the vendors was selling gluten-free bread and cookies!  After seeing what I can make (muffins, cookies, hotcakes, tortillas) I'm shocked that no one has caught on.  Someone's missing a beat here.  Low glycemic, gluten-free, Southwestern flavor.  Versatile stuff.

Sunrise with Four Peaks


Four Peaks

Burrowing Owl

Current inventory of mesquite beans. Grind, baby, grind!




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