We got one at the local international mart,
it was beautiful and plump, upon opening it, beet red with tons of seeds. Too many to enjoy. It was a bit bland, but so much fruit is these days.

Do they get tastier if ripened correctly? Im guessing with the deep pigment theyre worth eating, but how to get around all those seeds!

Ive done some reading, and sites state the seeds are edible. The ones i happened upon were hard and i didnt want to risk my teeth chewing them. Did i just get a bad one?

I found a loose pad of cactus at the local park and its rooted just fine, maybe it'll fruit eventually! If not, nopales!

If prickley pear & cactus pear are the same, I have a few growing. Are they oval & kinda flat with little prickers all over? A neighbor gave me one & said to just lay it on ground & it'll root. It did & to my surprise even made it thru winter! It grew a bunch of babies & I just broke off 2 & layed them next to mama to root. I did take a small bit off tip of one & it was fruity tasting, like a pear -good. I didn't see any red though..it was cream colored inside. If Gina sees this, she can tell you lots more about them.
OK, what is 'nopales'???

I thought cactus pears were all a muted or mild creamy kinda color? the deep red and tons of seeds just makes me think dragon fruit.

I dont know.. but the few cactus pears I've tried were very mild, but very tasty

I have several different opuntias, the genus to which the edible cactus (napales) belongs. Here is some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nopal

The Mexicans that have come to the nursery say napales is what they call the plant. Wikipedia talks like it is the edible product made from the pads. I think they eat the pads to a greater extent than the fruit. I also find the fruit bland and the seeds are very hard. I have never tried the pads but the Mexicans seem to like them. (Of course, this may be an aquired taste.) I might point out that they are easy to grow from seed. Our grocery stores sometimes carry the fruits so it would be easy start some from seed. There are recipes available on the web.

They are totally hardy here in SC.

Thanks, Id read the thing on Wiki-
They can be green, oranges, or reds. We got a red because they were plump and good looking.

I didnt want to start seedlihgs of the fruit i had because it was so seedy, if I keep trying other types, hopefully ill get one that is a bit less seedy!

I cant get over something that is a fruit and a vegetable- i want to try them! I hear the pads (nopales) are kinda mild flavored, found some recipes as a marinated salad-

If nothing else, I bet i could smoothie them and pour them through a coarse strainer....

I just kind of suck on the seeds and get the pulp off of it. Think of it like eating a Pomegranit. The pads can be de-thorned with a very heavy towel or something similiar, then cut into thin strips and pickled or dipped in batter and deep fried.
Very good!!
Darren

There are lots of recipes on the web. I was told by one of the Mexicans that they tasted something like string beans, if cooked in a similiar manner. I have a large one - I need to try it sometime.

Hey Ned I have an idea... Make a salad the prickly pear & the "eatable" flying dragon... Between the two you'll have your head in the toilet before you know it... LOL You can have a 10 Degree Tangerine for desert...

I just found this in my search...they call it 'prickly pear' too. I am growing the green one on right. Didn't know they came in red! Mine are also flatter than the purple one at left. Hey Garnet, there's a recipe for a smoothie (at bottom) for ya!
http://www.melissas.com/catalog/index.cfm?Product_id=430&Info=YES

Yes they grow wild down here. They are the flower buds. I pulled one off once (took three days to get all the thorns out of my fingers). Cut it open and it smelled terrible. From my experience I can't believe people eat these...

What Darren & Ned is talking about is eating the actual cactus pads which are sold down here. The Mexicans seem to love them.

Actually, the "fruit" is rather tasty too, slightly bland. It is suppose to be a good source of vitamin C also.
Darren

I got a green, pale pink, and big red one at the international market today. the pale one got two licks, one bite, and a ptteewy! it seemed the very inner pulp was tasty, but seedy.

the outside ring of flesh was.... sharp and sour.

Definately prefer eating DragonFruit, but ive got SO MANY children that need to come in for the winter, itll have to wait till i get a bigger place!

I found this cactus pad at the local park. its a bit nuts to me that they live wild here, but heck, ill take it! If the heat hurts most of my summer vegetable crops, ill eat cactus...

the hairy spines, glochids, do burn like an SOB.

I have one bottle of Prickly Pear wine left. It turned out to be 20% abv, almost like a port. I like it. It should be better the longer I store it. At 20% abv, it should still be okay 30 years from now.

Joe I may be off topic is port a sweet wine?
I've been looking for a sweet wine now for a long time as a present to my wife but Reisling is one closest. The more alcohol the better.