Mesquite trees

 Living in the desert shade is important, especially if you are a gardener. Having some shade around your garden helps the plants survive the brutal summer heat, it gives my chickens and goats places to get out of the sun and it makes my yard have that lusher look I want. So when its time to plant trees here I was looking for something that was native, drought tolerant and that would grow quickly. I chose the Mesquite tree.
They are called  "the life tree" because it is said that life would not have been able to exist here without this precious tree. When the pods dry they are ground into a flour ( a flour that is gluten free and helps control blood sugar levels) .  Here is another use I found on http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/st-plains/nature/images/mesquite.html "The nitrogen-fixing attributes of mesquite may have been recognized by the Pima Indians, who purposely left mesquite trees in the middle of fields as well as leaving them on fence rows, not only because the pods were a good food resource, but also because the falling leaves returned much-needed nitrogen to the soil (Rea 1979)." Desert Harvesters offers grinding events every fall, where they will grind your pods into flour for you. I have a  Mesquite in my yard already, they sprout up every where and are hard to kill. I now see that as a plus. Mesquite pods are ripe right before Monsoon. During Monsoon season little Mesquite trees will pop up all around the base of the mature trees where they can carefully be moved around the yard adding the the mesquite "forest" I am trying to create. Once a mesquite tree is established it really doesn't require any watering from me and grows into a beautiful green, food producing addition to our homestead. 

Another awesome thing about mesquite pods is that goats can have them as a snack and so can the kids, My kids even enjoy chewing on the pods while playing outside. I have heard that people make Mesquite Jelly...hmmm that sounds like it's right up my alley.