It is normal for me to find things walking/hiking and if it’s visually edible in Mai standards, I will put them in my mouth, in small amounts, just to test out (still alive). I don’t have much knowledge about foraging out here as I’d like but it strongly interests me. Growing up in the tropics, it was normal to eat almost anything sprouting around as we had an abundance of wild deliciousness, all sorts of fruits and some veggies.

Moving out here, was quite an adjustment, yet I have carried the habit of still wanting to try out wild colorful whatnots, which usually end up in disappointment.

This tasting habit pervaded as I am stubborn, which naturally caused me to start getting familiarized with some local desert plants. When I first found a Manzanita plant while hiking many many years back, I had no idea what it was yet instinctively had the urge to taste the fruit, I was blown away! It was a first! A fruit found in the desert that actually tasted pretty damn good. So I did my little research. Then its medicinal properties, wow, it was such an eye opener. It allowed me to slowly feel rooted in the desert, the plants have introduced themselves and we’re starting to be friends.

This trial and error is what led me to other local plants such as the Creosote, Juniper, Mormon tea, Sagebrush, and Banana yucca. After some years of stumbling and fucking around this way, I finally recently decided to get myself a proper book to help me lol.

Recently, I was able to find two new wild desert snacks, the Pyracantha (red) and the Wild desert Fan Palm (purple black). The Pyracantha tasted equal parts sweetbittertart, while the Wild desert fan palm fruit tasted like honey, it’s so darn good! It has a tough texture, all there is to eat is the skin and the seed (you just suck on the teeny seed, maybe it can be roasted, I didn’t go that far) where both are basically coated with this thin layer of honey-like nectar. You would need two handfuls to get a snack satiation. Oh man my mouth is watering thinking about it, I will need to go back where I found it.

The green things and Mexican Buckeye pods are just nice and no snacking purpose that I know of. Mexican Buckeye may actually be poisonous.