In the summer, mesquite pods fall to the ground, usually to be raked up by people, or blown away by the wind, but one person’s yard debris is Peggy Sorensen’s main ingredient.

She calls mesquite pods the sugarcane of the desert, and it’s actually become her own, locally harvested sugar substitute. She grinds the pods into a fine powder that can be used as a gluten-free flour substitute in recipes.

Sorensen herself is the kind of person you want with you if you’re hiking in Arizona. She knows all about foraging for food in the desert, and teaches classes about edible and medicinal plants.

She joined The Show to talk about how she turns mesquite pods into tasty treats. But first, she showed us the art of eating the pod itself.

Sorensen’s next workshop on the many uses of mesquite pods is Saturday at the Phoenix Public Market.