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Desert Harvesters milling mesquite beans.
The importance of our area’s most abundant trees – native velvet mesquite and honey mesquites – will take center stage at Oracle State Park Center for Environmental Education on Sunday, Oct. 19, at a day-long desert harvest festival. Activities will include displays, presentations, hands-on activities for children, live music, and the famous Desert Harvesters’ mesquite bean hammermill.
A Tohono O’odham demonstration of basket weaving with beargrass, kids’ mesquite pancake-making, interactive education booths, and live music by Creosote Ring on the Kannally ranch house patio are scheduled as well.
All events are free with park admission of $7 per car or free for state parks pass holders. The park entrance is on Mt. Lemmon Rd. in Oracle; hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays year around.
Visitors can complete their day at the park by bringing their own picnic lunch and beverages. The newly-cleared park trails are available for easy hiking, and self-guided tours of the historic ranch house and exhibit of Lee Kannally paintings are encouraged.
Desert “foodies” who have collected three or more gallons of clean, snap-dry mesquite pods can have them crushed into sweet, gluten-free mesquite flour for baking by the hammermill from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the park’s group use area. Important information and instructions for collecting can be found on the Desert Harvesters website: www.desertharvesters.org
PERSONS WHO WILL BRING MESQUITE BEANS FOR MILLING must observe all requirements for pod quality, safety and health listed on the website under “Mesquite Harvesting” and “Mesquite Milling.”
• Pods must be tree-picked (not picked up from the ground) and must pass an inspection for mold, fungus, debris, dryness, etc., before they will be milled.
• A minimum milling fee of $6 for up to three gallons of pods will be charged; additional gallons, up to a maximum of 15, will be charged $2 per gallon.
• Note that one gallon of pods will generally mill to about one pound of flour.
Laurie Melrood, desert food expert, will show the many uses of the mesquite tree, along with other desert plants, from 10 a.m. to noon. She’ll also have a storytelling session for children.
“Tree of Life,” a presentation by Kathie Griffin, master gardener, will begin at noon in the ranch house living room. Visitors can test their knowledge of how many ways Mesquite trees have been used by desert cultures and how to successfully grow them.
Creosote Ring makes an encore appearance starting at 2 p.m. Their grassroots-Americana blend of guitar, mandolin and vocal harmonies won raves at the park’s Lee Kannally paintings exhibit opening a year ago.
Information on this and any current or upcoming park activities is available at www.azStateParks.com/Parks/ORAC or by calling 520-896-2425.
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