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July 12, 2004

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On the tops of some of the barrel cactus grow this little yellow fruit that looks somewhat like a tiny pineapple. I have cut some of these open and they are hollow with tiny black seeds in them. The skin is somewhat sour, tasting almost lemon-ish. Like the prickly pear and a lot of the other cactus fruit, these are edible and many people use them to make jellies and jams.

I have a few of these barrel cactus in front of the house and they were covered with the fruit. Then, little by little I noticed that the fruits were vanishing. But one day, as I was looking outside, I watched as a small chipmunk-like rodent clambered up through the thorns to the top of the cactus and was taking the fruit. It now seems to have picked them all clean.