Golden Honey Mesquite Seeds

A small tree growing about 15-20 feet tall, good for zones 7-10. Mesquite pods are among the earliest known foods of prehistoric man in the new world. Today flour products made from the pods are still popular, although only sporadically prepared, mostly by Amerindians. Pods are made into gruels, sometimes fermented to make a mesquite wine.
The leaves can be used for forage. Providing good bee pasturage also, nectar from mesquite yields a superior honey. The wood is used for parquet floors, furniture, and turnery items, fencepost, pilings, as a substrate for producing single-cell protein, but most of all for fuel. Toasted seeds are added to coffee.
Bark, rich in tannin, is used for roofing in Colombia. The gum forms an adhesive mucilage, used as an emulsifying agent. Gum is used in confectionary and mending pottery. Roots contain 6-7% tannin, which might discourage Rhizobia. It is valued for wood and often used for cooking. It displays yellow blossoms and bean pods that are valuable to wildlife. Tool handles, plaque wood, fenceposts and aromatic charcoal for barbecuing are made from mesquite. Despite its sweetness, mesquite flour which is produced by grinding whole pods, has been found in medicinal research to be extremely effective in controlling blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. This is an excellent desert species for low-maintenance desert windbreaks and re-vegetation. Growth rate is faster when supplemental water is used.