Mesquite and Palo Verde

[wjgonzalez]

If you live in the South West, a source of free parrot food are Mesquite and Palo Verde seeds. Both were, and still are, used as human food. Feral parrots eat them. American Indians used to ground the mesquite pods (the whole pod) into flour. It has a sweet nutty taste, kids (and me) like to chew the pods, they have a sweet taste. The Palo verde seeds (Parkinsonia microphyllum) when still young and tender, taste like peas, or edamame.