I'm glad you've been out and about, enjoying the plants! Those are some spiny prickly pears (Opuntia spp.). It would be interesting to see how spiny or spineless the new pads are, when they are small. New prickly pear pads can be so good! It will be nice to see the fruit when they get ripe!
And you know a good plan for foraging -- using one book on the usability of the plants and another on the identification of the plants. Happy foraging!
The prickly pear stays very small out here, I've never seen them any bigger than in those photos. I will try the fruit this year! Good advice on the books. I do have a nice book on prep that I need to delve into.
I thought you were the person with the plan for using your two books in combination! That is a good pair you have. And you are right -- a third book on preparation would help. Not knowing what to do with a harvest can be a big block.
I will say this about preparing cactus -- don't clean up with a dishcloth and then put it into your laundry with your underwear! You won't find that in any book, lol. You can guess how I know that! ; )
Lol, that is some good advice! Now I need to get a map and mark where I find all my specimens along with my 3 books!
Making maps is really helpful! Then the longer you live in an area, the more the whole place becomes your own personal grocery store!