New Mexico prickly pear farmers say 2024 harvest is bountiful
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Those growing and harvesting prickly pear fruit said 2024 is a banner year for the crop. One local company is trying to get people to stop overlooking the red fruit.
Will Thomson co-owns Prickly Foods who creates lemonades and syrups from the fuchsia-colored cactus fruit. “It’s kind of a subtle flavor but sort of like a watermelon,” Thomson described.
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Six years ago, Thomson created the New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival, aimed at showcasing the drought tolerant native crop. “There are very few businesses in New Mexico that have a focus on prickly pear. It’s been really cool every year to see a new vendor with prickly pear barbecue sauce or prickly pear ice cream.”
Harvesting in Lemitar, Thomson said August through September is peak season. This year, he said the harvest season came early. His team is expecting at least another 5,000-pound harvest.
While Thomson’s Lemitar crop in Southern New Mexico came early, in the East Mountains, a prickly pear jelly maker said her bumper crop is in late bloom.
“The fruit is falling off the cactus but they’re not ready. They’re rotting before they’re ready to harvest which is really unusual… We’ll do the best we can with the harvest,” said Phyllis Riboni Hustead, owner of NM Prickly Pear Jelly.
The 6th New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival is on September 27-28 at the Gutierrez Hubbell house in Albuquerque.
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