You all beat me to it. Carefully! I thought the tuna was the new leaves, which is edible. I don't know if you can burn the spines off the fruit? Father Nicholas. Perhaps another way to get the spines out of the fruit-- Use a tweezer and pull them out. I work as a volunteer at the Huntington Gardens, San Marino, I have eaten a few and they were very good. You may try to take the seeds out with a tweezer before you try and eat the fruit. Make sure they are soft to the touch, also fertilizer may sweeten them for next year, the fruit can be red, yellow, orange. Some are larger than others depending on the species. If you need receipes I will be glad to send them to you. Norma

The prickly pear is the large padded spineless one. It's a collection of pads that broke off some bigger ones last year, stuck in a 3 gallon pot. It's been neglected and forgotten way out back, but they're all rooted well and growing. Can't kill them. I have eaten moringa leaves, flowers and green tips. Quickly sauteed/steamed with a bit of garlic and oil. Tastse a lot like broccoli raab to me. Very nice. Mine's blooming now too. Unfortunately I forgot to pick the "drumsticks" when they were green, so I missed out on trying those this year. But I've got a bunch of seeds now! Need any? Anyone? I'll plant a few for trade parties, and probably plant another one or two here. Gonna try to keep them trimmed and bushy, since they do like to grow tall and loose. I'd love to try one of your good papayas. Been eating a lot of them lately myself. Audrey's got lots and I've got lots of the small red fruited Hawaiian variety. I'll trade ya. Yesterday I made a bunch of carambola jelly! It turned out perfectly! Golden, clear and delicious. Had to do something with so many ripe at once. Even with 4 neighborhood kids coming by daily for a few each, we couldn't keep up. I wonder if the tortoise would like some? And you too of course.

It's hard to tell in thus pic if it's rotting. If you could take it out of the pot and then take a pic it would be easier to tell. The whitish stuff at the base isn't rot. What I can tell is that if this is the container your cactus has been in I think it's time to give it a new pot. I would get a terra cotta pot maybe an inch bigger than the container in the pic. Then get some cactus mix preferably without peat. Also get some perlite or pumice to mix in the cactus soil. A 50/50 ratio should be fine. Plant your cactus higher up in the pot:)

Is the brown bit soft and moist? Is that the plant's permanent growing condition, in that bucket-ish container? If so, it is potted far too low. I am not a cactus grower, but I can tell you from reading here that the cactus needs to be in a container with holes in the bottom in a fast draining soil. Most often recommended here is commercial cactus/succulent potting mix combined 50/50 with perlite or pumice from your nursery. If you repot in that pot with the soil level a couple inches from the top, I believe it will be too much potting mix for the plant; it won't dry out fast enough. Other cactus growers will check in here and advise you about the brown area, but I suspect you will have to start over. Personally, I prefer clay pots for these plants which don't like wet feet. Good luck with your plant.