2007 Cascabel Mesquite Milling

The 2007 Cascabel Mesquite Milling will take place on November 10, 9 AM to mid-afternoon at the Cascabel Community Center. Join us at the Cascabel Community Center for a fun, festive day of processing and eating native mesquite, plus tons of other local foods dishes.

Directions: Take I-10 Exit 306 just east of Benson and go north on Pomerene Road. Turn right at stop sign in Pomerene and proceed north on Cascabel Road to mile marker 23. About halfway between mile markers 23 and 24, look on right side for the green and white county address sign #5871 and a sign for mesquite milling. Proceed up the lane to the Cascabel Community Center. Allow about 1 1/2 to 2 hours driving time from Tucson.

The day begins with a mesquite pancake and waffle breakfast served from 9 to 10 AM.

- From 10 AM to 2 PM, we will mill your collected mesquite pods. Milling is free for non-commercial home use. (Donations gratefully accepted.) Cascabel Hermitage Association and Desert Harvesters will both have their mills running.

- Local musicians will play during the milling.

- A native/local foods potluck will follow milling.

- We will be firing up the earth oven, so bring a dish made with mesquite meal or other local foods to bake. The kitchen will also be available for preparing food.

What to bring:
-- the mesquite pods you have gathered, which should be CLEAN (free of gravel, twigs, etc.) and BRITTLE DRY. Test for dryness by bending pods. They should snap in two.
--containers for finished mesquite meal
--hat and sunscreen
--dish for native/local foods potluck if desired

Gathering suggestions: We hope you have already collected your mesquite pods for this year. If not, there may yet be opportunity, since mesquite pods can ripen anytime from late June through September or October, depending on conditions. Ripe pods are dry and brittle. They come off the tree with little pulling. After gathering, rinse the pods, then dry them in the sun for 2-3 days. Store in a dry place until milling day. We don't worry much about bugs hatching out during storage, but the week before milling we do rinse and dry the pods again, which seems to mostly get rid of any bugs that have emerged.

This event is being sponsored by the Cascabel Hermitage Association and the Cascabel Community Center.

See you there!