Me, too! I'm surprised to find that they're native here, though. I'd expect them growing wild in Texas ... but in Maryland? Not so much!
Yes, eastern prickly pear is native to eastern US. Even here in Ohio. I have two growing in my flower bed and they are currently blooming with their gorgeous yellow flowers. Just be careful when weeding by them, they will stick you and it hurts!
You bet - that was a lesson learned the hard way! Duct tape is our Friend. It takes those nasty little stickers right out of your skin!
You can eat them raw??? I grew up in Colorado, raised my kids in New Mexico, have family in Arizona, prickly pear is native to all that area, but we never did anything with it culinarily. Now I see it all the time on the cooking shows I watch, and driving through those states we woud see it offered as jams, jellies and hard candies, but ... raw? What's the flavor like? Is it like aloe?
Thank you! Hope I get to try some, sometime. These are called nopales, right? Or are those a different cactus, beavertails?
The closest I can come is a cross between a strawberry and maybe a lychee - and they're good! And it's chock full of hard-to-remove seeds! Some people eat them, seeds and all, but I have to either puree them or spit 'em out!
