Don't Pick The Prickly Pear With The Paw...

Withering prickly pear fruit in Winter. As the cacti (Opuntia) are quite abundant on the ranch, this year I will try to make some PP jam, maybe a bitch even spicier with an added jalapeno to it.

Does anybody have a good recipe to share?

And yes I remember this form the Jungle Book

Don't pick your prickly pear with your paw
When you pick a pear use your claw

Pincushion Cactus In Bloom

Originally hailing from Mexico (Hidalgo, Oaxaca and Puebla), Globe or Pincushion cacti are a favorite succulent to be grown by gardeners.

Be sure to plant the cactus into a porous fast draining soil (with small pebbles) and give the cylindrical plant enough direct or indirect sunshine. To put them into a North facing window will not give them enough exposure of sunlight. If fertilizing use one rich in potassium and phosphorus, but low in nitrogen, as with almost all cacti. Repot every 2 to 3 years and enjoy their May, April bloom.

They got their name from Latin mammilla, "nipple", referring to the tubercles that make the distinctive features of the genus.

Sources: Wikipedia, CactiGuide.com,