Want to provide your family with a year's supply of the flavorful, nutritious (high in protein, fiber and minerals) and blood-sugar-stabilizing mesquite meal that can be substituted for a small amount of the flour in any recipe?

Mesquite pods are becoming ripe and ready to harvest. Look for ones that are tan or mottled reddish and brittle, have seeds that rattle and that come off the tree easily. In order to prevent possible contamination and mold, pick pods off the tree, using a shallow cardboard tray to catch them or lay a tarp and shake branches with a rake. The trees in my yard, around 5,000 feet, are not quite ready yet as some of the drier pods come off but many are still too green.

Desert Harvesters (www.desertharvesters.net) recommends that "Once you have found a tree that you want to pick from go ahead and TASTE one of the pods (watch out for the very hard seeds.) If it tastes good to you, go ahead and pick from that tree. The flavor can vary widely from one tree to the next. If you are unfamiliar with the taste of good mesquite, it is a good idea to sample pods from several different trees. We usually carry a few (paper) bags with us wherever we go during mesquite season so that we can pick if we happen to find a good tree."

Rinse pods by dunking them in a pail of water and swishing them around, and then lay them out, one layer thick, in the sun to dry for a few days on cardboard or old metal roofing. Pods must be dry enough to snap in half when bent. This is a little difficult because the rains have started. Try putting them in the oven to dry with the heat from the pilot light, or after oven use or at low heat.

Once the pods are sufficiently dry, store in a rodent-free place in sealed containers such as white plastic buckets with lids, plastic storage containers or garbage cans with tight lids. The pods are hydroscopic, meaning they tend to absorb moisture if the humidity is high. So store until the hammer mill mesquite milling on October 20th at the Bisbee Farmers Market and later millings in Cascabel and Tucson. Don't try to grind the pods in a blender as it may burn up the motor and won't touch the rock-hard seeds that are 40% protein.

The pods may have to be dried again for a couple hours in the sun the week of the milling. Note pods may have small holes which indicate the beetles that lay their eggs in them (as part of their life cycle) have exited. Don't be alarmed if you see beetles leaving the pods as they air dry.

Find information about harvesting, drying and cooking with mesquite at www.omick.net under the Native Desert Foods section. Five gallons of mesquite pods will grind into one pound of flour.

Sierra Vista Farmers Market

New product: Fiore di Capra Dairy will bring a Basil-Roasted Walnut Spread, a Marinated Artichoke cheese, and a new Roasted Red Pepper Torte along with all their other chevre logs, spreads, marinated cheeses, dessert and savory tortes, feta cheese and raw unpasteurized goat's milk.

New Grower: Theresa Estes of Hereford will bring multicolored eggs (from her contented flock who roam her two and a half acres and like to get in lap time when she's on her porch swing) and soft ball size peaches as well as green beans, peas, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapenos, and habaneros.

Mamma Llama's will celebrate the red season with a special empanada they make this time of year for the tomato harvest. Called Tuscan Tomato, it is full of fresh tomatoes, black olives, mozzarella and feta cheeses, mushrooms and basil. "Take and Bake" frozen empanadas also come in beef, pork and chicken fillings with South American inspired seasoning. Retired Alaska fisherman, Max McCarty, will offer wild salmon both frozen and smoked as well as other ocean fish.

Joe Moran of Little River Nursery will be at the market with lots of trees, shrubs, wildflowers and outdoor cactus so you can take advantage of this great time to plant. The rains have softened the earth so the digging is easy and the transplants will thrive in the moist conditions.

Gray's Garden of Eat'n will offer tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, sweet onions, seedless watermelons, ripe cantaloupes, Honey Dew and Casaba melons, okra, soft neck and Elephant garlic as well as Buzz Breads. (At both markets.)

RPMS Jams & Jellies has added Orange Marmalade and Lemon Marmalade, to its myriad of other flavors including Peach jam from Wilcox peaches and Plum jam from Arizona Plums. Try new Strawberry Habanero pepper jelly.

Bisbee Farmers Market

New product: The Produce Wagon is now baking its own whole wheat bread using local (Simmons) honey and healthier local eggs from pastured chickens as well as cinnamon rolls. Every week it brings just-picked sweet corn and this week melons, green beans, eggplant, onions, tomatoes, squash and 6 kinds of potatoes from Richard and Cecelia Burda.

New variety: Bob Berry of Elfrida has "Oxhart" plums in addition to honey from his hives, flower bouquets, green onions, tomatoes and summer squash.

New product: Rancher Dennis Moroney has pork chorizo great for spaghetti sauce along with lots of grass-fed beef.

Long known for its healing and penetrating properties, emu oil was used for thousands of years by the Aborigines for muscle aches, sore joints, inflammation and swelling. Try pure emu oil from Circle T Emu Ranch to help relieve burns and radiation-treated skin, psoriasis, cold sores, dermatitis, diaper rash and acne as well as sports injuries, arthritis, insect bites and hemorrhoids.

Help pets get through the monsoon season of thunder and lightening as well as recover from a rattlesnake bite with herbal kits with healing and calming effects and no side affects. Available at both markets from Helen Hayes.

Ask small grower Bobby Gowins for Texas Super Sweet onions that should be ready this week. He specializes in raising sweet onions of various varieties as well as eggs, eggplant, 2 sizes of cucumbers, tomatoes and zucchini.

Simmons Honey will be at both markets with beehive health foods besides honey including bee pollen, royal jelly, and propolis. Bee pollen is compacted flower pollen with a small amount of nectar. It is rich in vitamins, enzymes, amino acids and protein and can be used to relieve allergies from airborne pollen. Royal Jelly, the main diet of the queen bees, is a nutrient rich cocktail good for the skin, known for its ability to reduce stress and help the body repair. It comes in capsules, as Royal Honey (a mixture of royal jelly & honey) and in raw form that can only be special ordered as it needs refrigeration.

Zucchini Tomato Bake

(Adapted from Adventures in the Family Kitchen by Raman Prasad)

5 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

10 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

8 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

2 tblsp olive oil

Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Coat a flat baking pan with 1 tblsp oil. Overlap layers of zucchini, garlic, basil and tomato. Drizzle with rest of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 40 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and brown under broiler.