Low Hanging Fruit

These prickly pear fruits are a tasty treat. But there are some cautions. If you look closely, you will see that they have rather a lot of long spines sticking out. What you cannot see in a photograph, without a microscope, is that there are small spines called glochids surround each larger spine. It is relatively easy to remove all of the spines, all you have to do is have a fire with a flame and pass the fruit through the flame. The spines will then all burn off and the fruit can be carefully eaten. You do not want to get glochids in your skin. They are like tiny pieces of glass and are really bothersome and somewhat painful.