Prickly Pear

This is growing on the boundary fence and I walk past it most mornings. It is sprouting lots of new leaves (if that is what they are) and growing rapidly.
Once I would have returned with the hoe to despatch it. However, since watching a YouTube video about syntropic gardening at Lightning Ridge, I see it differently. In the syntropic gardening system, they start out by growing whatever will grow. They use those plants for organic matter and to provide shelter for more desirable plants. In the case of cacti, some moisture is given to the garden as well. The lady at Lightning Ridge had one of these growing. She said in the arid areas cacti are like water tanks, and other plants tend to grow beside them.
They are edible, and dye can be made from their fruit.
This one is thriving on a very hard patch of ground.