CactiGuide.com

Hi, glad to have you here.

Not sure where you were camping, but your discription and your native species would be Opuntia. Yes you can eat them, but young tender pads are preferred.

There's probably more than one way to skin an opuntia so whichever way you prefer. Some options would be thick leather gloves, or hot dog tongs. Be sure to rinse them well to flush off any that stick behind.

Yep, sounds like Opuntia (prickly pear) that your referring to. You could always hold the pad over some fire to burn the glochids off before peeling the skin off

here the O. ficus-indica are eaten (canada as well) and teh fruits are made into ice cream and jams. tasty

also dragon fruit is by far the best tasting cacti out there (the large fruits). Cereus also has soem pretty serious fruits as well! all grow very fast (for cacti).

i think most cacti are "edible" just a matter of quality, qunatity and efficiency.....i dont if anyone is going to mae baked ariocarpus with a side of aztekium sauce but as far as i know they are edible, as in wont kill you.

as a side question, are there ANY poisonous cacti? aside from peyote?

Loph,
As I understand it, cacti contain no toxic chemicals (like Euphorbia and others), but like you imply, just because it doesn't kill you doesn't mean it is good for you.

Daiv