Mesquite pancakes here we come

On Saturday, November 7, the Desert Harvesters present a mesquite pancake breakfast, raffle, live entertainment, and milling of mesquite pods at Dunbar Springs Community Garden.

Mesquite Pancakes: The breakfast features homemade mesquite/whole-wheat pancakes made with organic, local ingredients. The mesquite flour is made from native Velvet mesquite pods hand picked by Desert Harvesters around Tucson. The organic wheat is from Crooked Sky Farm in Glendale, AZ, and is ground just a week before the event.

The pancakes ($1 each) are served with prickly-pear syrup, mesquite syrup, agave nectar, local backyard honey, and homemade jams. A variety of locally made teas and organic coffee will also be sold. Please bring your own plate, fork, and cup to help make this a zero waste event. Pancakes are served 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
 
Mesquite Milling: In addition to serving pancakes, three hammer mills will be on site to grind pods into flour for the public. Community members can bring pods they’ve harvested. Pods must be clean, dry and free of stones, leaves, and other debris. The milling of pods costs $3 for three gallons or less of whole pods, then $1 for each gallon of whole pods over that.

Five gallons of pods yields about 1 gallon of fine, edible flour in just five minutes! 

Or you can also drop off pods for later milling and pick up as long as your pods have been inspected by the Desert Harvesters staff and you have prepayed. Please pack your pods in sealable, food-grade containers and label them clearly with your name and phone numbers. For information on how to collect, store, and prepare beans visit  Desert Harvesters . Milling occurs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
 
The event will also feature live music, roving entertainers, and local foods, crafts, teas, and gift certificates as raffle prizes. Informational tables from other local food efforts including Iskashita Refugee Gleaners and the Community Food Bank. In case of rain, the event will move to the Dunbar Auditorium, just north of the garden.
 
Desert Harvesters Mesquite Milling Fiesta and Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser
Date: Saturday, November 7
Time: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Dunbar/Spring Community Garden, Northwest corner of University Blvd. and 11th Avenue

Desert Harvesters is a non-profit, volunteer-run grassroots group that promotes, celebrates, and enhance local food security and production. Desert Harvesters provides the public with information on how to harvest and prepare native desert foods such as prickly pear fruit and pads, cholla buds, ironwood seeds, and more. The organization’s flagship activity is the harvesting and milling of whole mesquite pods into flour, valued for its natural sweetness and high nutritional value.

Desert Harvesters is looking for a few good people who want to learn the craft of the mesquite hammermill. Get in there and get your hands dirty and help take the hammermill around town.

This is a great opportunity to participate

Learn the craft of milling with Desert Harvesters

in community milling events along with a dedicated group of fellow Tucsonans who share your same values.

Training starts at noon with a kick-off feast Saturday 26, at 1333 W. Alameda, Tucson (85745), in the Menlo Park neighborhood near the base of A-Mountain. Look for the yellow house with red trim and the unmistakable hammermill out front. Find a map and great directions

Enjoy a free lunch of San Xavier tepary beans with red chile, a vegetarian dish lovingly made by fellow Desert Harvester Amy Schwemm, prickly pear lemonade made by Dana Helfer, along with tortillas from Anita Street Market. Bring your own bowl, spoon, fork, and cup. Feel free to bring other dishes and non-alcoholic beverages to share.

Please RSVP to hammermill@desertharvesters.org  (Brad Lancaster) so they have some idea of attendance.