Why are my mesquite bean pods anemic? They've been robust here for years. They are dropping and they are shriveled and thin.

And don't start with the "sounds like a personal problem business!"

That's a shame cause Mesquite Bean Jelly is awesome.

Drought perhaps?

Gunny456 said:

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Drought perhaps?

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Could be. North Duval Co. We started out dry then got 3"+
from Alberto. It greened up after the pods started forming.

Still amazes me that the pods will be everywhere on the ground under each tree but in a month or two they are gone.

I've noticed they're real inconsistent over here in Brazos & Burleson counties this year as well, I have a few different spots/properties I check on them.

Seen some trees with nothing, some just starting to produce pods, some with lots of pods but they're flat and don't look like they filled out well, and even picked some from a single tree where the pods were already brown and dry. Just strange.

Wanting to make some mesquite bean flour, never heard of the jelly but may give that a try as well if I can harvest enough. That and getting some *****ly pear fruits harvested later on are my outdoor food projects for the year.

I thought mesquite beans were poisonous.

agfan2013 said:

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I've noticed they're real inconsistent over here in Brazos & Burleson counties this year as well, I have a few different spots/properties I check on them.

Seen some trees with nothing, some just starting to produce pods, some with lots of pods but they're flat and don't look like they filled out well, and even picked some from a single tree where the pods were already brown and dry. Just strange.

Wanting to make some mesquite bean flour, never heard of the jelly but may give that a try as well if I can harvest enough. That and getting some *****ly pear fruits harvested later on are my outdoor food projects for the year.

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Have you made the flour before? How do you do it/what do you use? Any recipes?

DargelSkout said:

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I thought mesquite beans were poisonous.

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No, just most people think they are inedible. Comanche used them. If you pick them off the ground then they can make you sick if animals have pooped near. Should only eat from fallen in sight of you and should cook because they can cause upset stomach if not (not to mention the beans are hard as heck).

To make the flour you toast the beans then use a grinder to take a flour. Then that flour can be used to make tortillas, bread, biscuits and other stuff.

To make the Jelly you take the 10 Cups of bean pods break them in half, put them in a pot and bring to a boil. Let the pods boil for about 45 minutes with a covered lid. The water will look like a light colored tea.

Run the liquid through fine strainer or Jelly bag. For every batch takes 4 Cups of Mesquite Bean Juice add 1/4 cup lemon juice , 3 cups of sugar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then after 1 minute of a hard boil add pectin. Then that batch will be ready to filled in Mason Jars.

DargelSkout said:

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I thought mesquite beans were poisonous.

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If you're a cow maybe

Humans have been eating them for thousands of years

Cattle can eat them and they will eat them off the trees and off the ground if you have cattle. They love them.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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To make the flour you toast the beans then use a grinder to take a flour. Then that flour can be used to make tortillas, bread, biscuits and other stuff.

To make the Jelly you take the 10 Cups of bean pods break them in half, put them in a pot and bring to a boil. Let the pods boil for about 45 minutes with a covered lid. The water will look like a light colored tea.

Run the liquid through fine strainer or Jelly bag. For every batch takes 4 Cups of Mesquite Bean Juice add 1/4 cup lemon juice , 3 cups of sugar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then after 1 minute of a hard boil add pectin. Then that batch will be ready to filled in Mason Jars.

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What kind of grinder do you use (coffee)? I've seen some commercial sized grinders but that isn't feasible for me. I've read that they can tear up a coffee grinder pretty good (is that true?).

We just use a blender since it is glass. They beat up the plastic Ninja too much.

They make good cookies, too. Take a regular sugar cookie recipe and substitute 1/3 of the flour with mesquite bean flour.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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Cattle can eat them and they will eat them off the trees and off the ground if you have cattle. They love them.

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And their stomachs are the ultimate scarification system for mesquite seed. Lots of wildlife species consume them from deer to turkeys to 'coons.

Mrs Tree made mesquite bean margaritas tonight. Pretty much a regular margarita with added mesquite bean juice. Fantastic.

She might score.

tree91 said:

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Mrs Tree made mesquite bean margaritas tonight. Pretty much a regular margarita with added mesquite bean juice. Fantastic.

She might score.

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Recipes people, recipes! Like rule #1 but different.

When you make the flour, do you remove the beans from the pods and grind up the pods to make the flour or is the hard beans included?

Mrs. Tree gathers them off the ground when fresh, washes them, dries them out in the oven, then grinds the whole pod. She never opens the pods.

DargelSkout said:

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I thought mesquite beans were poisonous.

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It's the thorns that get you. Deets had to get the mesquite thorn out of worthless Jake's finger.

Have a buddy that has made mesquite bean whiskey. Not bad. I actually have some still.

Went ahead and made some jelly today, pretty much followed the recipe above but used 4 cups of sugar instead of 3. Looking forward to seeing how it tastes.

Saw somewhere where you can keep using the same beans for flour too, just need to dry them back out again. So im dehydrating again and gonna try to grind into flour another weekend.

agfan2013 said:

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Went ahead and made some jelly today, pretty much followed the recipe above but used 4 cups of sugar instead of 3. Looking forward to seeing how it tastes.

Saw somewhere where you can keep using the same beans for flour too, just need to dry them back out again. So im dehydrating again and gonna try to grind into flour another weekend.

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Damn, last weekend I picked up 2-3 pounds of pods and gave them to a gal at work this past week.

That jelly is making me rethinking my generosity!

Use to put a piece in my lip like chew and get a buzz when I was young. Not sure if it really does or not, but it felt like it.

We use everything we have on the ranch. The kids use these mesquite beans for flour, jellies, and we'll steep them in grain alcohol for cooking and drinks, but we actually use more of he *****ly pears, persimmons and grapes for jellies and wines. I'm glad to see folks using these things. Very cool. There are so many folks that don't even know these things exist or can be utilized for edible products.

We keep a bucket of the beans for the horses as treats. They freakin love them.

I have some homemade mesquite bean whiskey that my friend's dad makes

How long and at what temperature do you roast/dry the pods in the oven?

I did ~3hr at 200 til they snapped easily.

Now I just have to decide what I'm going to do with them.

I usually let the beans pre dry a little bit and have them in a bag that sits on the dash of my truck for a couple of days, so that starts the process. After that I put them on a cookie sheet tray and set the oven on keep warm mode, running 180 degrees for 4-6 hours. That usually does the trick. Haven't seen many beans ready where I'm at yet (B/CS). Wanting to make jelly and flour again this year.

Mesquite Bean Jelly is awesome. My grandma makes some every year

If any of you all are interested this is a great family, a great ranch and their jelly is excellent as are their other products. Lot's of Aggie's in the family. https://cappadonaranch.com/

They do a lot to promote Mesquite stuff.

Mesquite bean soap is awesome
Hard to find unless your der from wild soap