Mesquite Trees

[Alpine_Sapper]

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html

"Mesquites as Botanical Friends

If mesquites have arrived as intruders in the view of cattlemen of the Southwest, they have, by contrast, long been a welcome presence in the larders, livestock feed bins, workshops, gardens and medicine cabinets in the perspective of many desert residents. "

I didn't copy the rest of the paragraphs concerning the various uses of Mesquite under that heading, but if they grow in your area it's worth hitting the link to read the rest of it. I never new they had much use other than grilling with the wood. I've also thrown the beans on the grill to add the flavor instead of the wood. And, uh, I've used the baby mesquite or specifically the thorns off of it for all kinds of things, blowgun darts being the most often used. The thorns they show on that page are actually kinda small for the mature trees around here.

[ClayPick]

Acclimatizing myself to desert conditions is one thing I always wanted to try (I’ve never been south of the 40th parallel). I can’t even catch a buzz off beer beyond 85, it just gets sweated away. 100 plus ……..yikes!

[crashdive123]

Good info and link Alpine. Not sure when or if it'll come in handy, but nice to have another tool in the tool box.

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

i use mesquite. it grows on the shores of the dry lake beds. its good for cooking. smudge fires of mesquite repells mosquitos,the "kreosote" in the live green foliage is what does that.

[dolfan87]

Acclimatizing myself to desert conditions is one thing I always wanted to try (I’ve never been south of the 40th parallel). I can’t even catch a buzz off beer beyond 85, it just gets sweated away. 100 plus ……..yikes!

It's forecast to be 108 here today...and tomorrow...and then it's supposed to get hot.

BTW, you never get acclimated to this misery.

EDIT- this is my 100th post...

[Rick]

That's just God's way of sayin' you shouldn't live there.

[canid]

That's just God's way of sayin' you shouldn't live there.

seconded.

i'm sweating buckets here from breaking up a bit of hardpan by shovel and it's only 76f. i don't want to have to put in anything else after the heat comes. not this coyote. i plan to have it made in the shade.

[Alpine_Sapper]

That's just God's way of sayin' you shouldn't live there.

*shrug* -52, 108, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunami's... I think I would rather deal with mesquite thorns, fireants and heat a lot better than some of the other stuff.

[canid]

i'd take the 52 below. a fire is a lot simpler than a heat pump.

[Rick]

And I can put on enough clothes to stay warm. I can't take off enough to get cool. Even if I could NO ONE wants to see that!

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

ive been to the sanora. some of the canyon areas stay shady at the bottom until about 11:00. the north face. direct sun there was more than i care to take. i like my snow and hardwood forests.

[crashdive123]

It's forecast to be 108 here today...and tomorrow...and then it's supposed to get hot.

BTW, you never get acclimated to this misery.

EDIT- this is my 100th post...

...but it's a dry heat....(snicker, snicker)

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

...but it's a dry heat....(snicker, snicker)

its a 10 minuet jerky oven, acclimate with a good basting oil,cook until golden brown (on both sides!)

[Rick]

I sort of feel that way about Hell. I know Hell is hot but is it humid? That's what I want to know. I can take the heat it's the humidity that gets to me.

[lanahi]

I think it was General Sherman who said that if he owned both Texas and hell, he'd rent out Texas and live in hell. I consider all the desert the same way!

[doren]

I tell a lot of people I would rather it be 20 below than 80 plus. I spent three weeks in Alamogordo, NM, and The Lincoln National Forest area. The heat isn't so bad once you create or find shade. The trouble is staying in the shade. I'll take the 120 degree, 15-20% humidity over my 90 degree, 85-95% humidity in East Tennessee any day.

[dolfan87]

...but it's a dry heat....(snicker, snicker)

Yeah, and so is the sun.

I have lived here 21 years, and it does suck in the summer. No getting around it. However, come late Sept it's a beautiful place to live. We get really nice weather from October-April.

So it's a trade off. Suffer through four months of stupid heat, or deal with four months of snow...and rusty cars, and changing tires, and iced over windows...ect ect.

Plus I would rather be hot then cold. I can't freaking move when I am cold!