I live in the southwest desert and am having a cactus problem.

I have a very large 9 - 10 foot cactus in my yard - prickly pear I think it
is, the one with the rosy red large edible buds - which lost about half the
plant through a breakoff.

Anyway, I'm slowly cleaning up the corpse. This variety of cactus has very
fine thorns, like fur, but very very irritating. I hate to use good fabric
gloves to handle the pieces for fear the thorns will probably imbed
themselves and make the gloves unusable for anything else. True? I think
the thorns will go right through latex gloves. Any convenient way to handle
the large pieces other than piercing and moving them with a big knife or
screwdriver? Not very convenient.

Next question - a way to get the thorns out of my skin? They are so small
they are almost invisible to my aging eyes to get out with tweezers.

TIA


--
"Where there's smoke there's toast!" Anon

On 6/28/2013 9:20 AM, KenK wrote:
I live in the southwest desert and am having a cactus problem.

I have a very large 9 - 10 foot cactus in my yard - prickly pear I think it
is, the one with the rosy red large edible buds - which lost about half the
plant through a breakoff.

Anyway, I'm slowly cleaning up the corpse. This variety of cactus has very
fine thorns, like fur, but very very irritating. I hate to use good fabric
gloves to handle the pieces for fear the thorns will probably imbed
themselves and make the gloves unusable for anything else. True? I think
the thorns will go right through latex gloves. Any convenient way to handle
the large pieces other than piercing and moving them with a big knife or
screwdriver? Not very convenient.

Next question - a way to get the thorns out of my skin? They are so small
they are almost invisible to my aging eyes to get out with tweezers.

TIA



chop the pieces up with a shovel, and then you can pick them up with
large kitchen tongs or even the shovel.

i use clear packing tape to remove the small thorns. duct tape would
also work, but also pull out any hairs on your skin too.

chaniarts wrote in
:

On 6/28/2013 9:20 AM, KenK wrote:
I live in the southwest desert and am having a cactus problem.

I have a very large 9 - 10 foot cactus in my yard - prickly pear I
think it is, the one with the rosy red large edible buds - which lost
about half the plant through a breakoff.

Anyway, I'm slowly cleaning up the corpse. This variety of cactus has
very fine thorns, like fur, but very very irritating. I hate to use
good fabric gloves to handle the pieces for fear the thorns will
probably imbed themselves and make the gloves unusable for anything
else. True? I think the thorns will go right through latex gloves.
Any convenient way to handle the large pieces other than piercing and
moving them with a big knife or screwdriver? Not very convenient.

Next question - a way to get the thorns out of my skin? They are so
small they are almost invisible to my aging eyes to get out with
tweezers.

TIA



chop the pieces up with a shovel, and then you can pick them up with
large kitchen tongs or even the shovel.

i use clear packing tape to remove the small thorns. duct tape would
also work, but also pull out any hairs on your skin too.



Both sound like excellent suggestions! Never thought of cutting up the
cactus or using tape. Brilliant!



--
"Where there's smoke there's toast!" Anon

On 6/28/2013 11:20 AM, KenK wrote:
I live in the southwest desert and am having a cactus problem.

I have a very large 9 - 10 foot cactus in my yard - prickly pear I think it
is, the one with the rosy red large edible buds - which lost about half the
plant through a breakoff.

Anyway, I'm slowly cleaning up the corpse. This variety of cactus has very
fine thorns, like fur, but very very irritating. I hate to use good fabric
gloves to handle the pieces for fear the thorns will probably imbed
themselves and make the gloves unusable for anything else. True? I think
the thorns will go right through latex gloves. Any convenient way to handle
the large pieces other than piercing and moving them with a big knife or
screwdriver? Not very convenient.

Next question - a way to get the thorns out of my skin? They are so small
they are almost invisible to my aging eyes to get out with tweezers.

TIA


Several sections of newspaper folded together and thoroughly wet will
protect you from this type of cactus. Just cut into sections that you
can move and grab it with the folded/wet newspaper. You can also stick
the ears back in the ground and grow new cacti.

On Fri, 28 Jun 2013 13:35:37 -0500, NamPhong
wrote:

You can also stick
the ears back in the ground and grow new cacti.

.... or cook the prickly pear

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-...y_pear,FF.html

First, I'm a back easter, and really have no clue.

How about fireplace tongs, and burn the cactus
on outdoor pile?
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
"KenK" wrote in message ...
I live in the southwest desert and am having a cactus problem.

I have a very large 9 - 10 foot cactus in my yard - prickly pear I think it
is, the one with the rosy red large edible buds - which lost about half the
plant through a breakoff.

Anyway, I'm slowly cleaning up the corpse. This variety of cactus has very
fine thorns, like fur, but very very irritating. I hate to use good fabric
gloves to handle the pieces for fear the thorns will probably imbed
themselves and make the gloves unusable for anything else. True? I think
the thorns will go right through latex gloves. Any convenient way to handle
the large pieces other than piercing and moving them with a big knife or
screwdriver? Not very convenient.

Next question - a way to get the thorns out of my skin? They are so small
they are almost invisible to my aging eyes to get out with tweezers.

TIA


--
"Where there's smoke there's toast!" Anon

On 28 Jun 2013 16:20:54 GMT, KenK wrote:

I live in the southwest desert and am having a cactus problem.

I have a very large 9 - 10 foot cactus in my yard - prickly pear I think it
is, the one with the rosy red large edible buds - which lost about half the
plant through a breakoff.

Anyway, I'm slowly cleaning up the corpse. This variety of cactus has very
fine thorns, like fur, but very very irritating. I hate to use good fabric
gloves to handle the pieces for fear the thorns will probably imbed
themselves and make the gloves unusable for anything else. True? I think
the thorns will go right through latex gloves. Any convenient way to handle
the large pieces other than piercing and moving them with a big knife or
screwdriver? Not very convenient.

Next question - a way to get the thorns out of my skin? They are so small
they are almost invisible to my aging eyes to get out with tweezers.

TIA
Search for COWHIDE LEATHER PALM GLOVES HEAVY DUTY. Home Depot, Lowes,
ebay, Amazon: they all have them, these are what I use!!! Or, as one
individual suggested, bbq tongs.

On Friday, June 28, 2013 5:19:26 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On 28 Jun 2013 16:20:54 GMT, KenK wrote:



I live in the southwest desert and am having a cactus problem.



I have a very large 9 - 10 foot cactus in my yard - prickly pear I think it

is, the one with the rosy red large edible buds - which lost about half the

plant through a breakoff.



Anyway, I'm slowly cleaning up the corpse. This variety of cactus has very

fine thorns, like fur, but very very irritating. I hate to use good fabric

gloves to handle the pieces for fear the thorns will probably imbed

themselves and make the gloves unusable for anything else. True? I think

the thorns will go right through latex gloves. Any convenient way to handle

the large pieces other than piercing and moving them with a big knife or

screwdriver? Not very convenient.



Next question - a way to get the thorns out of my skin? They are so small

they are almost invisible to my aging eyes to get out with tweezers.



TIA

Search for COWHIDE LEATHER PALM GLOVES HEAVY DUTY. Home Depot, Lowes,

ebay, Amazon: they all have them, these are what I use!!! Or, as one

individual suggested, bbq tongs.

He wants to know how to get thorns out of his skin. They can be hard to see. Could you ask a friend or neighbor to weld the tweezers?

You might also try over in rec.gardens.

Good luck.

HB

On 6/28/2013 3:39 PM, wrote:
On 28 Jun 2013 16:20:54 GMT, KenK wrote:

I live in the southwest desert and am having a cactus problem.

I have a very large 9 - 10 foot cactus in my yard - prickly pear I think it
is, the one with the rosy red large edible buds - which lost about half the
plant through a breakoff.

Anyway, I'm slowly cleaning up the corpse. This variety of cactus has very
fine thorns, like fur, but very very irritating. I hate to use good fabric
gloves to handle the pieces for fear the thorns will probably imbed
themselves and make the gloves unusable for anything else. True? I think
the thorns will go right through latex gloves. Any convenient way to handle
the large pieces other than piercing and moving them with a big knife or
screwdriver? Not very convenient.

Next question - a way to get the thorns out of my skin? They are so small
they are almost invisible to my aging eyes to get out with tweezers.

TIA

We have a lot of people here in florida who planted those little
cactus you get in a jar and now they are over the house. They just go
nuts here. Sun and water
If you don't have a machine to get rid of them people break them up
with chains behind the truck and use a pitch fork to handle the stuff
that breaks off. The "hort" pickup guys hate them.


We got rid of ours with long handle lopping shears and a pitch fork. We
put the cactus in heavy duty boxes, threw some in the trash, and gave
some to a friend. Good riddance. The prickly pear was almost as tall as
our house. Pretty but a bitch to keep maintained.

On Fri, 28 Jun 2013 17:26:20 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

He wants to know how to get thorns out of his skin. They can be hard to see.

Right. That is why we have teeth. BTDT

Disclaimer: Not for city folks.

On Fri, 28 Jun 2013 19:35:36 -0500, gonjah wrote:

The prickly pear was almost as tall as
our house. Pretty but a bitch to keep maintained.

Stuff you don't see in Austin, Jim.

http://www.trdlcomics.com/rimages/cactus_penis.jpg#cactus%20penis

On 6/28/2013 7:44 PM, Oren wrote:
On Fri, 28 Jun 2013 19:35:36 -0500, gonjah wrote:

The prickly pear was almost as tall as
our house. Pretty but a bitch to keep maintained.

Stuff you don't see in Austin, Jim.

http://www.trdlcomics.com/rimages/cactus_penis.jpg#cactus%20penis


I'm from NM.