Garden Variety Cactus SOCAL Delicacy: At Farmers Market & In Situ

What you can learn if only you ask questions, which I did of Elizabeth Garcia, one of the produce vendors at The Farmer's Market on Little Melrose Avenue, a hop, skip and a jump over La Cienega Blvd., just east of the border of Los Angeles and West Hollywood.

You de-prick each leaf with a sharp instrument- Ms. Garcia recommends a potato peeler, then wash it, you then can cut it into strips and sauté in olive oil, adding any other ingredients of your choice, or boil/steam whole leaves for about 10 minutes, then cut into squares, and add into salads or other prepared foods you think it would work as a condiment.

These cacti are domestically grown on farms in Southern CA, but if you choose to pick local, instead of farmer's marketing local, which many people seem to do because they buy and pick up the leaves Ms. Garcia has prepared, after doing more produce shopping, these rabbit ear cacti are native to Northern Mexico and desert climates in Arizona and California.

Picker beware...make sure you're not on private property nor think a cactus isn't going to defend its honor at your expense.