I would be remiss if I neglected the main hurrah of my sojourns into the desert, the flowers. It is easy to notice the noticeable, the majestic cacti in this arid terrain, but this spring ride was full of El Nino blooms. The high chaparral and its blooming tansy and incenso created allergy havoc with the cowboys. They resorted to using bandanas as face masks and stuffing their nostrils with tissues. To my mind they looked like sneezing ningas with machetes.
Botanizing is a way of life on the trail. The locals know the names of plants, mostly based on whether they are malo (garbancillo) or bueno for the animals. Luckily for me we managed to slow the pace in the process of pointing and talking about the growth all around us.
For tea we located wild mint in moving water, and I picked tiny berries (drive by style sitting in the saddle), called frutia, which sounded like a word worth eating so I did.
On a few occasions I have been treated to the sought after and hunted wild chiltepin; a staple on every ranch table. These diminutive palate pleasers are best ground in small containers and sprinkled on the beans or cheese, or better yet goat stew. The taste is fiery, but I attempt a few each meal when they are offered. By late season, the supply dwindles, and some cowboy will set out to the stomping grounds to collect, carefully dropping them in to a bottle, as many as the bush will bare. Have a view at this web site I enjoy reading called Sabores sinfrontaras.
You will see the effort going into saving and collecting seeds in desert regions. You can learn about events in the borderland, namely Arizona.
