Mesquite beans

[grrlscout]

Did the final sorting and cleaning over the weekend.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5049278244_83c08e75a9_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5049278382_9f1ec4a82f_b.jpg

Ended up with 2 5gal buckets full. The hammermill comes to town next weekend. It'll cost me $10 to get them milled.

I'll get around 15 lbs of flour from them. Considering 1lb of mesquite flour goes for around $12, that's a pretty good deal.

More info on mesquite, from Desert Harvesters:
http://www.desertharvesters.org/harvesting-processing/

[your_comforting_company]

And you just foraged all that? You didn't cultivate these, right?
Really awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[rwc1969]

That's really cool!

[grrlscout]

Correct. I found a couple stands of trees in a nearby park, and at a local college campus. The trees are very prolific!

I collected these over the Summer, over several weeks. I'd go out in the morning, before work, and get about half a cat litter bucket, in about 30 minutes.

You gather them when they start to turn tan, and are getting ready to fall off. It's better to collect them from the tree than the ground, because it's less likely they're contaminated with chemicals or who knows what. Here's some that aren't quite ready:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4796007167_41e3a386b8_b.jpg

I kept them in bags and buckets on my back porch, to allow them to dry. I ended up tossing about 2 gallons worth -- the ones with the very flat pods. I picked from a tree that wasn't right. I think it might have been an acacia, or maybe it was just a Chilean mesquite. Anyhow, I tasted all the various types of pods, and those kind weren't good. Not bad, but not sweet and spicy like those of the honey and velvet mesquites.

[crashdive123]

You do realize of course that if you emptied the cat litter box first, you'd be able to get a full container of beans don't you?:innocent:

[your_comforting_company]

Look like cowpeas (purple-hull) to me. Can these be boiled like regular beans, with some ham? I was thinking, if you could boil them softer, you could mash them with a tater masher, then dry them back out for flour.
Those trees don't grow around here (except the ones that have been planted for decoration) but I still enjoy learning about these types of things. Thanks very much grlscout!!

[grrlscout]

Hmmm... I dunno. If you look up Prosopis in the ethnobotany database, it says that some tribes ate the beans raw or cooked them as string beans. I imagine this would have to be done when the pods are fairly young.

[grrlscout]

The milling was on Saturday. Haven't had a chance to take the pics off my camera yet. But I have a couple from my cellphone.

The hammermill in action:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5072511608_191767821e_b.jpg

My take, half a bucket of flour, and half a bucket of chaff:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5066358788_d4a8249bc6_b.jpg

Haven't weighed the flour yet, but it felt like about 10lbs. Some folks there told me that the chaff can be used for many things, including boiled down into a molassas, brewed into a beer, fed to chickens, and used as mulch.

So I asked for the chaff from my pods. I think I'm going to try the syrup option.

[your_comforting_company]

Looks great! I'm thinking maybe try the beer option ;)
When you make some bread of it make sure you send some to QC for the taste test hehe.

[crashdive123]

QC anxiously awaits their samples.

[grrlscout]

So today I tried to make the syrup from the chaff.

First, I tried the crockpot. But that just wasn't working. The stockpot was key.

I think I ended up using 4 quarts of chaff and 8 quarts of water.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5004/5341226321_fcd2bac708_b.jpg

Strained out the solids, and reduced it for hours, until it was about 1/4 its volume.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5247/5341226507_283718323a_b.jpg

After fussing over the pot for hours, and dirtying up countless bowls, measuring cups, and strainers, I was starting to think it wasn't worth it.

But then I tasted it.

So. Worth. It.

It tastes like caramel sauce, with a hint of spice, like cinnamon! So freakin' good.

[Pocomoonskyeyes3]

The milling was on Saturday. Haven't had a chance to take the pics off my camera yet. But I have a couple from my cellphone.

The hammermill in action:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5072511608_191767821e_b.jpg

Not gonna' swear to it, But that looks like wild sunflowers along the fence, and behind the mill.

[grrlscout]

They are indeed sunflowers. Don't know if they are wild or not.

The milling took place at a local farm. So they could have been planted, though perhaps, haphazardly.

More photos of Maya's Farm, and the milling event:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/5076582287_190247c7ef_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5076582065_027d77b7b3_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/5076581149_b4d16b2faa_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5077175444_0130d89d9a_b.jpg

[Justin Case]

That is so cool they bring a mill in for you,, do you have to shuch the beans ,, or just grind everything ?

[grrlscout]

They just grind everything.

The seeds make the flour, which is caught it in the trash bin, in the second photo.

The pod casing becomes the chaff. Since it's lighter, is blown into the bag in the foreground.

I made the syrup with the chaff (which is usually thrown away).

Here's the flour:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/5077176848_9017367a02_b.jpg

I've mostly been using it to make pancakes and cookies. ;)

[Justin Case]

I'll bet it would make great biscuits too :)

[rwc1969]

That seems like a really cool plant to have around.

[grrlscout]

Nutritious too! I just found the stats today:


NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Velvet mesquite's fruits are nutritious. The thick and spongy pericarp
is high in sugars and the seeds contain large amounts of protein.
Fruits also supply a good source of minerals for herbivores. Because
plants fix nitrogen, the leaves are high in protein.

Nutritional information concerning velvet mesquite fruit is presented
below [4]:

% N % crude % fat % fiber % ash % total
protein sugars

seed 5.13 29.44 5.68 7.12 3.83 ----
pericarp 1.13 6.88 2.24 23.48 5.52 31.6
whole pod 1.95 11.81 2.36 22.61 4.83 22.2

The mineral composition of velvet mesquite fruit is as follows [4]:

% Ca % Mg % Na % K ppm Cu ppm Zn ppm Mn ppm Fe

seed .26 .18 .06 .68 13.6 49.6 24.2 46.6
pericarp .63 .09 .04 1.16 6.4 9.6 11.6 48.8
whole pods .53 .09 .03 1.27 8.3 26.4 14.5 40.4

Nutritional information concerning velvet mesquite leaves and fruits
collected in southern Arizona is presented below [110]:

season % protein % K P/Ca ratio % In Vitro
collected digestibility

leaves spring 17.6 .23 .28 62.3
fruit summer 9.5 .16 .23 66.5
leaves autumn 16.4 .10 .05 44.8
leaves winter 15.8 .10 .05 44.9


As you can see, the seeds -- which make the flour -- are very high in protein, almost 30%; as well as good quantities of Zinc, Manganese, and Iron.

While the pericarp -- or the pods -- which make the chaff, are high in natural sugars, and rich in Potassium and Iron.

[skunkkiller]

I didn,t know they were good for any thing we have alot of them trees around here learn something new every day.

[your_comforting_company]

If I read that correctly, that means they are.. umm.. how do I say it.. 66% efficient fuel?

Remind me what mineral is P?

and what is the ash%? that's a new one to me.

[grrlscout]

LOL! You mean the fiber content? ;)

I had to do some googling, but that number is the Phosphorous/Calcium ratio.

http://www.answers.com/topic/phosphorus-and-calcium

If I'm reading correctly, too much Phosphorous will cause calcium to leach from the bones. But a good ratio means calcium goes into the bones.

Most references I'm finding refer to animal nutrition though. I'm not sure how important it is in human diet.

[your_comforting_company]

Kinda...
I was actually referring to the % In-vitro digestibility. 66.5% is pretty good.

See, the cells in our body are basically tiny nuclear reactors. They use chemicals to break bonds in the molecules of the food we eat to extract energy. The 34.5% waste is very efficient for beans. Lots of energy and not a lot of "toxic dump" (using an analogy here..)

It's been a while since I've looked into these dietary factors.

It is true phosphorous will leach calcium from bones.. but consider this: too much calcium can cause bone spurs. This is an important ratio if you are prone to osteoporosis, or spurs (like runs in my family). I actually take a lot less calcium than most folks. I don't drink milk so most of mine comes from the foods I eat. (and thanks for the reminder on P)

As far as the animal/human thing goes, humans are less succeptible to many of the things that affect cattle, horses, or pets. The numbers should be relevant to a dietician tho, if you know anyone who might give you a rundown on how to use them. I knew a lady who went to work at the hospital up town as the dietician.. Maybe the wife will run into her at her new job.

[your_comforting_company]

Chemical bonds are cool.

I'm a nerd, LOL

[grrlscout]

Well, I'm just glad that someone can make sense of it! ;)