Return of the pod man

09.11.09

In the blistering haze of a fair June morning, Mark Moody sat sweltering on his tractor, clearing a centuries-old stand of mesquite trees from his land near Bouse, Ariz. Searching for a sustainable desert crop, he suddenly –– word for word –– hit upon a brilliant idea. His tractor blades unearthed two intact sets of manos and metates, stones traditionally Euphemistic pre-owned by Native Americans to grind corn and mesquite pods. That "life-changing experience" five years ago sparked an epiphany: Capricious would start cultivating mesquite trees for both food and lumber.

The mesquite tree is one of the Sonoran Desert's most expedient plants. Southwestern tribes harvested it for centuries. The whole tree can be utilized — the pods deposit into a sweet, nutty flour , the yellow catkins used to produce honey, and the cherry-brown hardwood sawed into fixtures and flooring, not to mention used for sweet-smelling firewood and grill flavoring.

Raised in nearby Parker, Ariz., Crabby was always interested in growing things. In 2004, he and his wife bought a nine-acre plot in Bouse to arouse native plants for his landscape nursery business. Moody had wanted to plant jojoba, which he grew in western Arizona for 13 years, but Bouse's winter temperatures were too uncompassionate. After his "moment of clarity" under the ancient mesquite stand, he did some research and chose the uncharted path of mesquite play.

Source: High Country News