I'm growing it from seed

So you know it's Opuntia ficus.

Read more about it here http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/4238/

General care should be easy in Las Vegas. The hardy ones I have grow like weeds up here in N. Nevada. Good draining soil, sunny location. I water mine once a week in summer.

I'm not familiar with using the fruit so maybe someone else can speak to that.

Don't have the patience for seeds so maybe someone else can help with that also.

Will my native soil work? It's a stupid question but I'm getting these seeds from online, optunia ficus, like you said, it seems right because its the ones we have, its red, we have either red or maroon. Anyway I'm asking this because our soil is Sandy and alkaline, yet drains, can that work? The water sits for 40 seconds