Cactus

I got some cactus from down the street to start our own cactus patch. It's the nopales variety. I'm interested in it for its edibility, and Ava likes the the prickly pear fruit that it produces.

We have hot, dry weather and the dirt is mostly sand in Oakley - perfect conditions for growing cactus. It's also supposed to be easy to propagate from cuttings so I thought I'd give it a try.

I had cut the cacti and set it aside for a few weeks so that it forms a scab at the root. By the way, the only place that I could think to put it under to rest was the big tree in the front of our house that Ava likes to climb! Lee questioned me about this placement, and Ava also chose this time to climb the tree! Okay, it may not have been the ideal spot for it but what can I say?!? Desperate times calls for desperate measures!

Anyway, I may have set it aside for too long (over three weeks) so if this planting fails, I'm going to attribute it to that! It's also possible that it may fail because I planted it during a heat wave - which is unavoidable in Oakley in July.

Area of planting before:

And after:

Fingers crossed for a successful patch!