Then they could try the mesquite candy. No doubt she
could evolve a delicious gum from the mesquite and the incense
plant. She knew she could from the willow milkweed; and under
the head of "sweets" an appetizing jelly from manzanita. There
were delightful drinks too, from the manzanita and the chia. And
better than either, the lemonade berry would serve this purpose.
She had not experimented to an authoritative extent with the
desert pickles. And among drinks she might use the tea made from
blue-eyed grass, brewed by the Indians for feverish conditions;
and there was a whole world of interest to open up in differing
seeds and berries, parched or boiled for food. And there were
the seeds that were ground for mush, like the thistle sage, and
the mock orange which was food and soap also, and the wild
sunflowers that were parched for meal, and above all, the acorns.
She could see that her problem was not going to be one of
difficulty in securing sufficient material for her book; it would
be how to find time to gather all these things, and put them
through the various processes and combinations necessary to make
edible dishes from I them. It would mean a long summer of
interesting and absorbing I work for her and for Katy. Much of
it could not be done until the I summer was far advanced and the
seeds and the berries were I ripe. She could rely on Donald to
help her search for the material. l With only herself and Katy
in the family they could give much of their time to the work.
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