Mesquite Bean Workshop

This is a hands-on class! You will get to sort and break up the beans, put them into the home milling machine, and sift the flour from the chaff.

We'll also use a stone mortar and pestle to grind a few of the pods to understand that process.

You will know how to harvest your own beans and process them at your own home by the end of the class.

Mesquite beans are ripe to pick in late June and early July. Occasionally they produce a second harvest in the fall. So we will not be harvesting. We will be using beans picked in the last month.

If you have signed up but are now unable to attend, please let me know so people on the wait list will be able to attend.

Knowledge you will receive:

You'll learn everything from how to identify a sweet mesquite tree, how and when to harvest, how to freeze, roast, store, how to make tea or "coffee" with them, and how to clean, prepare, and mill them for flour.

What machines can you use at home to mill the beans into flour? How do you make flour manually? How do you prevent bugs and holes in the pods?

How to sift the flour. What to do with the leftover "chaff" or "mash."

How to find the small actual beans inside a mesquite pod that are held tightly in place.

Recipes.

Why you can't open a mesquite pod like a pea pod or most bean pods.

Nutritional content.

Historical uses by local tribes. Velvet, Honey, Screwbean, and South American Mesquites. Which taste the best? The good ones taste like brown sugar!

We'll sample the mesquite pods: velvethoney, and screwbean.

We thank the Akimal O'odham, Tohono O'odham, Yavapai, Piipaash, Apache, Maricopa, Pima, Papago, and descendents of the Huhugam for knowing these trees since time immemorial, for their deep understanding of these trees and their beans, and for passing on their knowledge to future generations.

Fry bread is a 3 generation tradition. Mesquite cakes are a 300 generation tradition for at least the last 6,000 years. How do we know this for sure? The archaeological answer will be revealed at the workshop.

Did you know?? The landscaper/developers' South American Mesquite trees attract 6 h,,types of pollinators. Our native Velvet or Honey or Screwbean Mesquite Trees bring in approximately 66 types of pollinators. Ten times as many types of important pollinators. Why not plant native plants in our yards?

Most plant nurseries don't know about native or edible plants. We are trying to change that.

Prickly pear powder, mesquite brew, and desert teas will be available for sale at the end of the class.

Using the electric sifter to make the mesquite flour.

Cindy uses the giraffe mill to grind the mesquite beans and pours it into the bowl. Next the larger chaff pieces will be sifted out.

Also check out other Workshops in Phoenix.