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I'm new to new Mexico , I'm really glad I never cleared off my land and decided to keep 100% of the plants on it.

Catails can be used for bug repellant. Mature dry ones can be lit like giant incense sticks. They will smoulder and the smoke helps repel bugs.

I became addicted to nopales after getting some tacos in Mission Beach. My local grocery store carries both pads and fruits when in season. Pads are year round and buy them almost weekly for tacos and feeding my bearded dragon. I've even grown them from seed sources from the fruits up here in Seattle. I normally don't like most vegetables, but I eat nopales regularly.

James this was back to form. What an excellent and informative video like the ones you always used to do years back when I became a huge fan. Please keep these coming and also the overnight survival ones as well.

Great video! We have a definite dearth of folks teaching desert survival in the Southwest. With Bob Hansler having dropped off the radar, there are hardly anybody doing these kinds of survival videos left. Sure, the guys (and gals) making survival videos in the Eastern Woodlands are prolific, but let's face it - they are on easy mode back there compared to the desert Southwest and up into the Rocky Mountains.

Earth provides everything we humans need. Protect the lands and live with it.

Thank you for showing this video. My great-uncle used the pear cactus to feed his cattle. My great uncle and my grandpa's brother were taught by their old traditional indigenous Mexican dad how to survive in the deserts of Mexico. I remembered him burning cactus and feeding his cattle with the edible cactus. I remember and since my dad retired in Mexico the weather is not raining in the middle parts of the farmland in the desert of Mexico.I told my dad and grandfather that they. Could feed the cattle using the cactus you showed by burning off the spines. And I saved my grandpa's cattle by telling my dad to use cactus to feed the cattle. Good thing my indigenous family passed down the traditional knowledge to me.

I LOVE THE DESERT... ESPECIALLY THE SMELLS & THE SUNRISE!!!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤

Can you talk about the pinyon pine tree? Particularly the resin and its uses. I have made soap with it, I have made mustache wax, a fire torch and a balm. It smells absolutely amazing.

I am kind of surprised you didn't mention the Fourwing Saltbush! Fairly abundant around the El Paso area, the yellowish seeds on this silvery green plant are plentiful and usually on year-round and edible, and tastes faintly salty. The ash from this had culinary use, and increased the nutritional content of things like corn (as the natives used it for). We also have others, such as the pepper piquin, a type of persimmon tree, Kunth's onion, and the Mexican olive. Some other plants that kind of grow everywhere but are useful and pop up here are the purple amaranth (pigweed) that pop up after rain, which is used for dye, seeds, and leaves which are edible, and the ditch sunflower, which are tiny sunflower seeds. You also have red willow (i think that's what it's called) which grow near the river, and you can use the branches for weaving (like fish traps). An honorable but uncertain mention may be silverleaf nightshade, which ive heard you can cook rigorously and eat the berries, but... **IT IS NIGHTSHADE**. I havent tried eating this for obvious reasons...

My grandmother used to call the fruit that grows on cactus plants Prickly Pears and they are by far my favorite fruit. Make sure they’re ripe, use gloves when you’re peeling them and then freeze the fruit. Absolutely yummy

Just so that you know prickly pear or nopales will bring your blood sugar down. That can be a good thing if you're a diabetic, but if your blood sugar is low from not eating it could potentially bring it dangerously low. Use with caution

Yucca can be used to make primitive bowstrings as well. Probably one of the best natural fibers for it too as it'll withstand high draw weights

Creosote is also known as chaparral. It has amazing medicinal properties. It is antibacterial, antimicrobial, antitumorigenic. It is just about anti everything.

Having lived in the AZ territory most of my Military career being stateside, it's videos and survival videos like these that are ABSOLUTELY worth their gold in what you are sharing! The information is HIGHLY useful and extremely appreciative for basic survivability and as a prior Military individual, I appreciate you sharing this from a tactical standpoint. It's what the early peoples of this territory learned over thousands of years ago and you present it in a positive and educational form. Job well done!! Became a Subscriber and will be reviewing your other videos too. Thank you!

Great video! Your video on the mesquite beans from a couple of years ago has introduced me and my family to mesquite tea. I have to hide my quart jars of processed seeds from my kids. We all love the mesquite tea. I process it in a food processor and sift out the four. The seeds and hulls are saved for tea. The flour gets mixed with water and boiled and reduced. I filter out the large bits and the sugar water gets boiled down to candy. It was your video that got me started on it. I look forward every June and July for the mesquite harvest.

Great video; it's not easy to find bushcraft videos of the desert regions-northwoods, Pacific Northwest, northern European, etc. no problem. Thanks.

Something you may not know about the Yucca sandal is when they made them each pear add their own design on the bottom and they did this to help track down someone. Kinda like a finger print if that makes sense. Thanks for the great video

I love these desert plant videos more than anything else. Been going back on your old ones for a few years now and they’re so cool 🌵

In Southern California there are still many pits up in the hills used for roasting many Agave hearts that the native folks used. The dried stalks of some larger Agave and Century plants were hollowed out and stopped up and could be used as a container, especially a simple quiver.

First time viewer here. Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge. I've lived in the Sonoran Desert for over 50 years and have truly come to love this area. Years ago I was in the military and trained in survival. Noted was that when considering protein per acre the Sonoran Desert is number 1. I also really enjoy watching the desert blanketed in flowers every 5-6 years or when awhile back when all the Century plants bloomed. I also love how boiling cactus pads down then using the slime as a water proofing when added to clay for a mortar and applied to the exterior like in the Spanish missions. Anyway I could go on and on. Again thank you. I can picture you 80 years old still roaming the deserts teaching the next generation. The world desperately needs men like you.

Phenomenally informative content! Irreplaceable knowledge. All El Paso Tx natives should know this!

Love your videos. You explain things in a clear, concise manner that’s easy to understand. Thanks for sharing your desert knowledge. Keep your video/ tutorials reeling in!

Been a desert rat for many, many years. Outstanding content.

Fort Stockton/Alpine native here. Thanks for the information, ill keep this stuff in mind when I'm out in the boonies. Such a rich and beautiful place.

I purely love me some prickly pear fruit. Prickly pear also grows in Puerto Rico. When I was stationed there it took a hike up to a low mountain top and found a bit of prickly pear with ripe fruit 😊 When I use Flash tinder I like to mix it with dry dead grass. Makes it burn longer but ignites very easily

I grew up in El Paso, did a lot of camping in the desert there and further west. It's nice to re-live some of those memories watching your videos. 🙏 Thanks and God bless bro 👑

Great Stuff! The Rainbow hedgehog catctus (purple to violet in color) as well as the green hedge hog is very edible in the summer months and can also be a good water source that can keep you going. skin it while its still on the ground cut and eat. After a frost you should bake them or roast them over a fire because it is said to produce a glycol like anti-freeze substance that is toxic to keep it alive from freezing. Roasting over coals can nutrilize the glycol. Many times youll find them growing very near and even under Creostote bush. I know you have seen them. I have ate them befor and they are great. I even think they would help for cellular hydration. Just my expericence out here working in the Chijuajuan Desert for 23 years. Along the desert mountains The base of the sotol (like a vollyball size) and Shin Dagger bases (sweet potatoe sized) can be baked or cooked in the ground for serious food carbs and sugars. A Sotol needs about 72 hrs cooked in the ground and the shin dagger AKA Lechugiulla needs only about 24 hours of a cook. Perhaps with modern methods this could be faster. I cooked a sotol and a shin dagger once very hot inside a propane grill like you would cook a turkey. The shin dagger bulb was great tasting no sapponnins after a few hours. I cooked the sotol too long and it completely dried out. but was still edible and very tasty in my humble opinion.

Madrone can be found in the Chisos and Davis Mountains, as well as lower lying canyons that retain more moisture. There are remnant populations in the Texas Hill country as well.

On the Facebooks you will find foraging groups and in particular here in AZ, we have a number of foraging experts you can go learn from from their talks, classes, or outings out into the desert. We harvested a number of tunas in late summer/early fall and made prickly pear jam and lemonade. One of my favorite things in the winter when I'm hunting is to grab some juniper berries to chew on to freshen my breath. Depending on where you are relative to water, you can even find things like wild strawberries, wild blackberries, and I even know some folks who found wild watermelon growing by a shaded stream.

Awesome video James! I've been waiting for this one. I love learning about wild edibles from all over the planet. I think there is a scarcity of knowledge about your part of the country, compared to the Mid-Atlantic, where I live. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and making a great video.

Love it when you guys share this info! Almost as much as the camping trips! Very nice gentlemen! Thanks for sharing 🤠

I grew up in El Paso. Spent countless hours in the desert as a kid. Your videos bring back great memories.

Thanks so much, James. Very informative video. I fell in love with the Chihuahuan desert many years ago. This really takes me back.

Excellent video James. Thank you and Cuervo so much for all that you guys do. I can't wait to try the desert Ocotillo tea someday. Also thanks for sending out my shirt. I absolutely love it. I got the From the Desert with Love Cuervo shirt in the Sage color. Thank you Cuervo.

This is great. We live in Riverside County here in Southern California and we have many of these plants here at our ranch and all around this area, you just need to look! Also creosote is what was used to preserve wood. It is the dark brown stinky liquid that was used to preserve railroad ties and telephone poles. Works great to paint on fences that get chewed on by livestock. When you get a lots of rain creosote has beautiful very sweet smelling flowers. I have found very few books on our native plants but I do have a few that tell me what native Americans used for food and medicine. It’s good to know that I have plants here that we could eat or use for medicine if we needed too.

I grew up in Nueces County in Coastal South Texas. We picked the prickly pear tunas and made wine from them but we added some citric acid and sugar. We also picked and ate the fruit of the desert hackberry, which we called chaparral berries.

A natureza nos oferece muita riqueza, que bom se todos a preservassem intacta, soubessem maneja-la adequadamente.

We have some property south of Pyote Texas, there is an abundance of saltbrush, which is salty, I researched and found that before it flowers(green florets) can be dried and ground into flour it also is good to chew when one is getting dehydrated.

The view from the lighthouse excited even the most seasoned traveler.

I am grateful for the knowledge that you share. I moved to Arizona back in 2020 and you and your crew has been very helpful. I've learned plenty and share whenever I can.

The Cholla cactus is usually abundant throughout the southwestern states and you can eat the plant itself once you burn off the thorns and it has little fruits similar to the Nopal tunas/prickly pear fruit, but much smaller and they are also edible.

Thank you for all your first-hand knowledge on how the desert shares its bounty with people as well as its natural inhabitants. That, along with your fascinating facts, you also demonstrated in specific details the preparations involved. Vital information that would determine and ensure survival until someone lost could find rescue. You are very kind to make this video. Again, thank you for it.

I was in Tucson Arizona a few weeks ago. I’m fro Los Angeles and this information is so useful since I love ❤️ the outdoors. Thanks James and family for this useful information 🫡🫡🫡

Great video! I was stationed at MCB 29 Palms,CA and recognize most of the plants you spoke about.

Love your presentation & style. Fresh, clean and oh so informative. Education at it's best!

Best video I’ve ever seen on desert plants and their uses. Thank you!

Very good overview, lots of good information. One way to eat the tunas is to sharpen a stick and poke it into the top, break off the fruit and then with a sharp knife slice the skin off to get rid of the thorns. To me they taste like a mixture of kiwi fruit and strawberry. Makes a good jam too.

Another great video and with a lot of awesome information and tips.. I live in Southern California and do quite a bit of desert camping. Can't wait to put some of your tips to use. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work.

AWESOME INFO!!!!!! Thank you!! knew a few of these items already,but others were new(wolf berry/mesquite pods)

This was extremely interesting and informative. Living in the Southwest makes it possible that we could end up in the desert in situations we may not want to be in. BTW, horses love the Mesquite bean pods, they're a treat for them. Thanks very much.

Yes!!! These are the types of videos that made be subscribe to this channel years ago. Great job gentlemen.

great video. I live in the desert and had no idea so many of these plants around me had so many uses. I can't wait for my next camping trip, I'm going to try out a bunch of these.

Thank you team Junkyard Fox

Ty for this. I hope everyone is learning this stuff. Acceleration Theory is a real thing and survivng this next decade will be an achievement

Good video. Love exploring the desert.

Love the video! Thank you for putting it together!! I think a good one to cover would be the barrel cactus, specifically the fruit but maybe a little dispelling the "get water from this cactus" survival tip.

Many Thxs for your time spent in planning, supplies used, expertise in filming, knowledge of native desert plants and so much more! Loved the how to identify/safety tips, cooking, weaving, building😊, traps, fire fuel starter, personal hygiene, keeping warm, tool crafting, insect repellent and so much more that you shared with us for “Free!” I live in California where I can grow in my front yard several of the plants you talked to us about, agave, occatilia, and several kinds of opuntias. It was great to learn more about these plants! If you have time would love to know more about the crafting aspects of these plants like sandle/shoe and, pottery making, general overall desert crafts. Hope you are writing a book(s) about what you are sharing with us? 🤔😊 Keep on Keeping on! Blessings 🌹🙏🏽🌹

This was riveting!! Thank you for taking the time to teach us these amazing outdoor skills and history!

I live in high desert, but go down "low" often where my kids live. This is exactly what I was looking for in the way of desert survival. Some of the plants I knew but not all their uses. Thank you so much for this information & will look for more of your videos.

Thanks for the vid. 1 of many reasons you're 1 of my favorite channels to watch.

I missed this one a week ago, was in Lubbock at some doctor appointments and visiting my twin sons and their families. Caught up now though, very useful info James, thanks. I've lived here in the desert southwest all my life and learned lots about the flora and fauna, I never stop learning. I know for sure that if the plant has spikes, I'm gonna get stuck...😂

Great Video Fox. Really enjoy the Wolf Berries. Been harvesting and eating them for 35years. I wait (Im)patiently for The first week in June each year ..

Thanks for the video @Junkyard Fox from Corpus Christi Tx. I really enjoy it

That was probably the best wild edibles video I've ever seen? No nonsense, packed with information, and communicated well. I will definitely be watching more.

Super informative James. Thank you for the knowledge transfer!

I love the smell of desert rain when the sand start. Getting subsided and you get that fresh cream crisp air. It's nice

James this was one of your better more informative videos I’ve seen. ❤

Thank you!!!!!! I am so excited about your videos.

This is by far the best video that I've ever seen. Good job and thanks for sharing. Love the way you presented this valuable information.

I am in the Philippines, Mesquite trees along the edges of our beaches, Island of Negros, in Dauin. I came from . Yuma, Arizona where I lived out in the Foothills along the Fortuna Wash, many Mesquite, Palo Verde and cactus galore. Thank you for this well done video!

Love this more of these for sure!👍

Awesome video! This is my first time here and it was really informative. I recognized all the plants and trees you covered but I never knew they were so useful for survival.

Valuable information to have if I'm ever stuck in the desert. Thank you for sharing.👍

I loved your video and the wealth of knowledge...my favorite impressed moments..cattail, mosquite and the soap plant...

Really awesome video and very informative with excellent descriptions of each food and survival source provided to us from the desert. Thanks again.

Perhaps the completest guide through the desert survival and bushcraft knowledge of vegetation and common life👍I like it..💯

I'm so glad to learn more of the uses of dessert plants.... I'm in western Washington state and My favorite wild edible is cattails. Such a cornucopia. Full of protein. Favorite recipe Curried cattails. ❤ Marlee

You got it all bro thanks that you went out their a gave a presentation of what is out there Way to go thanks for the information.

Im officially ready for the dessert. Thanks for this

Wow fantastic video!! I was in big bend national park in winter and found a lot of these plants and you answered all my questions!!! Great job and thank you! So cool

Awesome info really brings back memories! Thanks for sharing ❤

Thanks for the info man, much appreciated.

Thanks for sharing/teaching, Sir. ❤

Your hilarious when you smelled the Creosote explaining the fresh rain 😂

Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts.

Excellent information for our next camping trip! Thank you.

Vary informative thank you! I was born and in Death Valley and I never knew there was so many helpful plants!

Your information that was very special for the desert camping trip. Thank you sir and be blessed 🙌 ❤️👍

Thank you, Very informative i knew of some edibles as i grew up with but learned of many more by your information. Thank You.

Thank you for the education, you're a great narrator!

Thank you for this. Much appreciated.

Many of the plants you have in Texas are in my state of Arizona. The video was very informative, thank you

Embora no Brasil não tenhamos desertos oficialmente falando temos região semi árida com muitas plantas semelhantes. Muito apreciável conhecê-las para a sobrevivência humana nestes locais. Falo de uma pequena chácara no município de Pedralva, sul do estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil. Parabéns e muito agradecido pelas tão úteis informações.

Saving this video to have it in the event I get stuck in West Texas. This is great content with a bunch of knowledge nuggets for surviving in the desert. Can you provide more insight into what a good spot to set up camp in the desert would look like? What to look for that exhibits a good place to establish either a short or long-term camp location.

Excellent video. I'd love to be able to take a desert edible and medicinal plant walk with you guys someday, complete with cactus juice (it's the quenchiest).

You are a refreshing sorce of knowledge that is lost these days. Keep it up, you are appreciated.

Awesome informative knowledge shared with us. Thank you ! One of the best nature videos that I have seen. Good job, keep on' keeping on. You have a lot of content as nobody else is doing what you are doing. Yay for a new and exciting you tube !!

What a pleasure to watch. I learned a lot. Love your channel, thank you.