Avocados

[Helen427]

In the topic about@Huma0's Day in the life several of you have mentioned your love of avocados, so as to not detract from that topic Avocados deserve a topic of there own..

What price are avocados in your country?

Are they imported or grown and in season in your country?

What breed of avocados grow in your country?

Do you have an avocado tree in your garden?

How do you best like your avocados?

[@ mention updated]

[Helen427]

In Auckland at my local Green grocer Haas avocados are currently $3.99 for 4 avocados ( NZ dollars), just coming into season as it's Spring in New Zealand, they are grown in NZ.

Unfortunately I don't have an avocado tree growing but are known to pop there stones in the garden hoping one day sometime a tree will grow and bear fruit.

I'm partial to enjoying avocado on it's own, as part of a salad or on toast with fresh tomato and basil.

[Helen427]

@Nick @Liv @Katie @Sergi @Anna , and others who you may or may not have seen this topic....

Enjoy!!

[Liv]

@Helen427 Thanks for the tag! I'm amazed that there is a 4 page long thread on avocados 💚

I have been making a lot of guacamole lately. What about you? Have you got any nice recipes to share? 👀

[Helen427]

hello @Liv Currently enjoying the nice plump Haas Avocados that are usually exported from New Zealand, 3 for $5.

I love them scooped fresh out of their skin, sliced and added to a Winter's Salad created with raw  celery, including the leaves, broccoli leaves which are quite peppery in taste, apple, mixed bean sprouts, nuts and cooked Kumara with a squeeze of fresh Lime juice and a smattering of the lime pulp

How about you @Liv @Lawrene0 @Cathie19 @Lizzie1 @Nick @Quincy @Quincy6 @Quincy5 @Quincy2 @Avo0 @Ava9 @Cody9 @Cody5 @Wal1 @Walt9 @Wal2 @Celer0 @Celerina0 @Celerina-and-Elio0 @CCelera-Srl0 @Nut0 @Nutth0 @Broc0 @Brock3 @Brock0 @Brock9 @Apple9 @Apple8 @Apple7 @Apple6 @Winter5 @Winter7 @Winter4 @Kuma0 @Kumara0 @Kumara3 @Kumara1 @Kumara4 @Kumara2  ?

[Victoria567]

I don’t entertain avocados......too many airmiles for me I’m afraid.

I serve my own home grown organic fruit to my guests.

[Lawrene0]

A bit like @Victoria567, I go local/homegrown, too, @Helen427, for the guest breakfasts, and my own. So that means blueberries, raspberries, peaches, apples. I love avocados, but we Canadians were recently chided in our national press for creating a market for them that is causing deforestation and crime in Mexico. If we push through the guilt and say, "Okay, I'll buy just one then," that one will cost $1.88 to $2 each.

I have tried growing them, in the past, in the windowsill from the pit, and it works fine. Pretty plant, but no produce, at least for me. So I am doing nothing to assuage the crime for which my purchase was responsible. 

Hopefully, for your sake, you get some less bleak answers from tropical hosts 🙂

[Helen427]

Lawrene, how very interesting about what Canada are trying to do.

A scan of Papers Past New Zealand comes up with some fabulous stories about avocados in Mexico.

They were planted there to provide a nourishing food source for the Aztecs / Mexican people.

In 1918 there was an avocado tree in Popocatepetl volcano at an altitude of 6,000ft where it freezes in winter that was targeted by thieves, one would assume any food was scarce then due to World Wars.

It was assumed to be 4 ft at the base, I'm not sure if that's full circumference or other and claimed to be over 200yrs old. I don't believe the later as its rare for any trees to live that long contrary to hypothesis some make ( I've read many stories where people claim trees are xzy hundreds/ thousands of years old but photographs and written records state factually otherwise).

[Letti0]

@Lawrene0  I planted 6, the reason you need both a male and a female to produce fruit. So if you only planted one it will never produce. They do well brought inside during cold winter areas that get low temps, just keep them resticted to urn types of pots and they will not grow too large, just like oranges, clementines, lemons and limes etc. do. They will easily still produce enough for your family usage. I am located very close to the Mexico border so my area is good for getting fruit from them. 

[Kimberly54]

@Letti0, if you adopt a grafted avo, no need for male/female!

Best,

[Letti0]

@Kimberly54  Yes that works, but they are expensive and hard to find. I had real issues with lemon trees not being allowed in from other states. Took me until this year to plant Eureka lemons (normal grocery store lemon) as they did not have any in Texas available. I was able to plant Meyer and Pink lemons, but no Eureka until this year. I opted for 7-9 year old trees that were also pricy, but at least 7-10 feet tall already I planted them and they are still super thin, but getting bigger everyday. @Lawrene0  was planting from a genric seed, so that is not going to produce any fruit for him. I planted an entire mixed orchard in 2016 with huge rain tanks to water them. a 30K and 40K Pioneer tank system. Some of the 200+ of tree's I did opt for male/female grafting, but for the most part opted for 6-12 tree clusters and a bee pollen flower area. 

[Kimberly54]

@Letti0, expensive and avocados run hand-in-hand.  Planting adult trees is also expensive, no matter what the flavor.  And then there IS a learning-curve to being a "farmer/grower."

What you are describing is indeed impressive.  (You are a NERD on MANY LEVELS!) 😉

For the rest of our readers: if you are growing your own anything, there are ALL KINDS of both environmental issues to contend with including WILDLIFE--from bugs to real critters, and they come and they go and sometimes you have to seriously push back.  I can't use poisons, so this gets very tricky. 

I love my little landscaped farm, I love the 'hood' I live next to (Wildlife preserve), and it often ticks me off that it doesn't operate like a Disney movie.

If someone is not up to 'farm life,' far better to pay the market price and just enjoy. 

While I enjoy a bounty of fruits, vegetables, fresh eggs daily, free fertalizer, free insect/small rodent control, no need for an alarm clock (haha..not funny on some days and there is no snooze-button), and have an amazing relationship with my local market, growing your own food is, in my experience, far more expensive than buying it.  I love the plants, the animals (let's NOT talk coyotes right now), and the connection with the earth, and my life would be a LOT simpler if I just drove to the store.

Wow... there was a lot of grumpiness in that last para.  Sorry.

I still love avocados.  (Trying to keep it on topic.)

*)

[Helen427]

Letti your place sounds fabulous.

Do you have underground bores on your land?

Most land used to until some bright spark overpopulated the world and covered it with buildings and roads.

Maybe look up the old land titles and see who used to live there back as far as you can & see where the water bores are to source water naturally.

I believe the historic newspapers for America are online so if you look up Atascosa you will find fascinating stories about who lived there, and contributed to your location, including planting avocado, or in Kimberly's home of beloved animals, Alligator pears... 😉 Others may like to do the same

Love the fact you have a bee pollen area, bees also have hives in common Pine Trees...

[Letti0]

@Helen427  I have the rain tanks set up to the gutters on all the 3 buildings. It's automatic and the tanks have automated pump houses next to each one with irrigation systems that go to the areas needed. I also have a canal in front of my property and a creek that is currently over flowing on the back end of the property with all the rain we have gotten lately. I was really upset to find out after I bought the property the owner before me threw cement into all 3 wells when the city water was hooked up. I am going to have the well companies bust through it on each one at sometime soon, these were all wells that went down well over 800+ feet and all artesian wells, the guy was an idiot and a Slum Lord. 

@Kimberly54  I have always had huge gardens and fruit trees, currently we are dealing with massive pecan production in Texas. it's is the second largest producer after Georgia. These are worth a lot of cash to the property. I am all organic and that adds to the price. While my children were growing up I planted our farm in Door County WI with all the low maintence crops potatoes, onions, butternut and acorn squash, asparagus, pumpkins and watermelons. Other then the watermelons we were able to do a full year crop to feed a family of 6 with low cost. It's 90 acres and we barely used any of it for this. At my house where we were the tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers of all kind, broccolli, beets (if the chipmunks didn't get them first), lettuces (no long term option on this one either), zucchini,  etc. were all harvested and preserved. I own All American Canners that are 10 quart, 15 quart, 20 quart  up to 43 quart , plus 9 tray Excaliber dehydrators and can dry or can the excess for future uses like jams,  sauces, Chili, spaghetti sauce, i dehydrator tomatoes, fruit, etc. and other options.  It's big bucks up front, but if you are preserving the items it's much cheaper in the long run and much better for you and your family. 

[Helen427]

@Letti0  How are your Avocado trees?

Have you had good crops from them?
Do you have any particular favorite way of eating them?