Wild Harvesting Cactus Fruit

This week I've been hiking up a hillside by my house with a beautiful view of the ocean.  My new puppy loves to bound up the hill free from his leash.  I was noticing the nopales, the cactus, that grow in patches on the hillside, were loaded with ripe, and also dried-out fruit, of a deep fuchsia color.  I did a little looking on the Internet and learned some techniques for working with these prickly fruits know in Mexico as Tunas.  They have some obvious short spines, but even more dangerous are almost invisible hair-like spines.  These hair spines can be easily knocked or blown off when handling the fruit, so be careful.

I prepared for the harvest, my equipment consisted of two dogs, a backpack, a glass jar with a lid and some metal tongs.  I choose fruit that were dark in color, big and un damaged.  I used the tongs to secure the fruit and give them a little twist as I pulled them from the cactus paddle and then immediately dropped them in my glass jar.  I never touch the fruit or the cactus directly.

I took my full jar home and filled it with water and a small amount of apple cider vinegar and shook it up to remove any dirt or debris.  I drained this vinegar water and added fresh water, shook again and drained.  I transferred the clean fruit to the blender and added about a cup of water and puréed.  I poured this mixture through a mesh strainer, using a whisk to help work it through.  I took my strained mixture and added it back to the blender with another cup of water and half cup of agave syrup and puréed again.  I then poured it through a finer strainer.  The finished produce was a bit concentrated and I add fresh water to taste with each serving.  I also brewed up some kombucha flavored with this juice, such a beautiful pink color, I love it!  Tastes kind of like Raspberry with Aloe!