If you get where they grow naturally, I suspect the ranchers/farmers will let you dig mesquite to your heart's content. Be sure to get permission first.

I can't remember what time of year the beans come off. Sure made the horses "gassy" when they did!!
;-)
J.D.

Mesquite survive droughts so well because they have a VERY DEEP tap root. Your chances of digging up one of any size and it surviving would be akin to winning the NY Lottery. Second thought, your chance of winning the lottery might be better. And to get them small enough to dig up and survive, you run the chance of getting running mesquite rather than what you're after.

I have 3 Honey Locust that my husband started from seeds and are surviving in large containers. (They have to be planted this year!) Possibly you could get your hands on some seeds and get some trees that way, but they are extremely slow growing. (I know, Honey Locust are a different genus, but they are the same family and have the same growth habit.)

As to the beans, there are only copious quantities when there is a dry spring. If there are good rains at that time the blooms get washed off and there are very few beans made. Last year would have been ideal for gathering beans, but the prospects for beans this year are looking mighty slim. Thank goodness!! (The drought last year was murder.)

Hope this helps,

Donna
in deep South Texas

yummykaz,
Do you have a recipe for the Jelly?
Would you share it?
It would be nice to have a use for the plant besides poking holes in my tractor tires with their thorns.
princealbert

To help with that we always put that green slimy stuff, I think it was called Billions and Billions of Balls, in our tractor tires. Made a world of difference!

All I want to know about the Mesquite is...when is SPRING? I am SO tired of winter!!!!!!

I am with you, Linda, but looking out my window right now looks as if it may be delayed a bit.

Yummykaz, I think it would be a long long time before you have beans if you plant a tree now. Your best bet is collecting them from adult trees. I live west of San Antonio, and they're all over the place. There are many on Hwy 90 between Castroville and Hondo beside the RR tracks. These trees seem a little shorter than what I have in my yard, and probably easier to collect beans this way. I was told by someone who makes the jelly that you need to take the beans off the tree, not collect them off the ground. Good luck !

patty

The ones on the ground are usually pretty badly stung.

I betting you're not after a high protein content in your jelly.

You don't state where it is you live. That may help to know if you'd like to pick pods. The beans ripen about july as I remember.

I kill 2-3000 trees a year as part of my pasture maintenence schedule. It would be easy to pull a few seedlings and send them your way, especially this spring while it is wet. It'd take a fair ammount of time to become a tree but I like mesquite trees shape. I just don't like to have a billion of them in the pasture. I also don't know what hte survival rate would be but knowing that tree like I do it would be good.

I live in Spring Texas. Thanks for all the tips! I need to go on Google images to get good look at them.

kosstex, what are you using to kill your mesquite? Until the government put a stop to it, we would use burnt diesel motor oil; after that we turned to Round-Up, but you had to catch it at the just the right stage to get a good kill rate. (Much like Johnson Grass.)

I use the A&M brushbuster method. It is very high in initial cost (about 300.00) but it only averages out to roughly 1.00 per gallon overall, which isn't bad. I can hit 100-300 small trees per gallon mix. Brushbusters is a 2% remedy/reclaim mix and I find do find blue dye to be invaluable when applying. Search Texas A&M Brushbusters. I also use a cheap liquid laundry detergent as a sufficant. Even though I own a 25gal electric pump I've found a BP sprayer the be best for me. It allows me to cruise the pasture faster with more mobility. Not to hijack your thread.

Yummykaz, I live in houston so if you want seedling trees, let me know.

Here's a recipe that I found:

MESQUITE BEAN JELLY
ÂÂ 1 1/2 gal. mesquite beans
ÂÂ 1 c. or 18 oz. bottle lemon juice
ÂÂ 4 qts. water
ÂÂ 1 box sure jello
ÂÂ 7 c. sugar

Choose ripe mesquite beans with a red tinge, but without insect holes. Pick beans only from tree; do not use beans on the ground. Wash and break into pieces; cover with water and soak overnight. Pour off water. Cook beans for one hour in 4 quarts water. Drain and save juice. Place 5 cups of juice in a pan; add lemon juice and boil 5 minutes. Continue boiling and stirring constantly while adding 1 box sure jell and sugar. Cook 5 minutes longer. Strain through cheese cloth and pour into jelly jars and seal. This makes an amber colored jelly.

I've never made it myself, but I have a beautiful mesquite tree on the north side and I would like to try it this year. But it's a big tree, I wonder how I'm gonna get up there to pick those beans?

Cheryl