First off, I am assuming you are talking about the fruits, not the pads, both of which are edible. 1) All fruits of the family Cactaceae are edible, prickly pear included. 2) Unripe prickly pears are pretty unpleasant tasting, very bitter. It is always best to let them get fully ripe while still on the plant though. 3) If it really was green, then no. If they have started to turn red, sometimes they will completely ripen off the plant.

Oh my dear...... I have about 4 patches of Immortality.....groves maybe. It is definitely scented and like many irises (and lilies for that matter) it may be described as having a strong scent, especially in the sun. Another one that comes to mind that can be a bit much is Bosenberry Buttercup and even I don't like that one. I guess it is individual preference. I think Saturday Night Live smells like Dr. Pepper! And really like oriental lily Conca D'Or but can hardly tolerate the scent! ??? So if it smells like corned beef to you, I would suggest you leave it in Mom's garden. :) Ginny

spiders are spiders.. mites are mites ... spider mites.. are NOT spiders.. they are mites ... one thing sucks the juice out of plants [mites].. the other preys on bugs [spiders] ... spiders do NOT harm plants .... see why one is bad.. and one is good ..???? i do NOT know.. but would be surprised if spiders dont eat mites ... and that is the lesson for today.. fully ID your problem.. so you can leave the good things .. and only attack the bad things ... but NEVER .. over-react ... had you waited a day or two.. to research them .. it would not have made a difference. ... if you do have scale... HORTICULTURAL oil is a recommended cure ... but that is not cooking oil ... so you might have been on the right track.. but used the wrong thing .. again, research ... [hort oil is VERY FINE ... while other oils are very heavy.. heavy ones MIGHT smother the plant .. but dont worry about that] the oil will smother the scale.. unfortunately.. they look the same.. dead or alive.. so we dont know ... what you did to them ... if anything ... my first thought.. is for you to compare ... the newest leaves coming out.. are they on those.. and then.. figure out the oldest leaves ... and i bet they are worse on those ... and if so .. i would simply tug off some of the older leaves .. no plant holds its leaves forever.. and early spring is a great time to remove some of the older.. weaker leaves .... they are probably the ones that are brittle.. and curling toward the trunk .... snip them.. if they dont release easily ... over the years.. you will learn how to recognize them.. and if you dont do it.. it will self prune them off soon enough ... my though is simply.. since they are covered in scale...??? .. to reduce your population.. by simply removing the old leaves ... if you can get rid of 50 to 75% of the problem.. thru some pruning.. why not??? am i to understand.. you made your own potting medium???? ken

DH loves canned green beans, so for most of our marriage that's all we ever had, except for when we had fresh green beans. However, we went to a pick your own farm this summer and picked a lot of green beans, which I froze, and that's what we've been eating ever since. DH also prefers canned corn over frozen. I like frozen because I can use as much or as little as I like. I don't really notice a difference in taste. I don't like creamed corn from a can cause it's too soupy. Other canned foods we'll eat are hominy - the golden being the preferred kind, black-eye, field, and purple hull peas, beans of all kinds, except I'm not fond of kidney beans, and tomatoes. I don't do canned spinach (although I secretly liked it as a kid - go figure), canned asparagus, (DH made the mistake of bringing some home from the store once, when I served it, he understood why I asked him, "What were you thinking?!") The other canned greens you'll find in the southern market, and pimientos. I've used them over the years thinking that's what you're supposed to do, then I wondered why on earth I'm using these watery, mushy, flavorless peppers when I can use fresh peppers. I do not like pimiento cheese, and what's the point of using them in anything else? Oh, and I don't like canned English peas. Obviously, I don't have a bias against canned veggies. I don't use them all the time, or even most of the time, but they come in handy when I'm not feeling imaginative. Sally