If your cactus paddles have the spines cut off or they're chopped, you should store them in the refrigerator. They should keep anywhere from one to two weeks. If your nopales are already cooked ...

Spines are a key part of this strategy since they allow a cholla or prickly pear pad to snag passing animals. “They might break off a piece of that cactus and then they will drop it somewhere ...

Preparing cactus pads (nopales) Once you remove the spines and peel the skin off the pads, you can cut nopales into strips or squares and cook them. Boiling cactus pads can remove the slimy ...

While the spines that protect the plant from predators can intimidate, the showy clusters of yellow, red and orange flowers that bloom atop the cactus pads can captivate. These ephemeral flowers ...

My colleagues and I study the history of desert rainfall using the chemistry of saguaro spines. Saguaros add new growth at the very top of the central stem and arms from June into about October.