Hot Cranky People

One of the cool things about living in California is that stuff grows here. Cool stuff, like nectarines or limes or figs or or persimmons. There are about a dozen mature fruit trees in my sister’s yard. My next door neighbors have orange and apple trees. It’s fascinating to me.

I decided I want to grow something too.

Remember that avocado in a jar with toothpicks thing we all did in grade school? Well, I’m doing it again now.

I wasn’t sure where to start, so I poked around online and found a new friend. Meet Produce Pete. I like him because he takes the mystery out of choosing and using fruits and vegetables. He says so himself, right on the front page of his website.

Plus, he has fancy puffy hair.

Pete is a big fan of the avocado. In fact, he says if he were stranded on a desert island and could have only one food, it would be the avocado. Quite an endorsement.

He is also full of wondrous avocado trivia:

“Everyone knows that Mexican and southwestern cuisines include a lot of avocados, but the fruit–especially the Haas variety–has become extremely popular in the Far East. The French also love avocados, consuming an average of four pounds a year per person, while the average American consumes two pounds–that is, outside the state of California, where the average consumption is six pounds a year. In the U.S. the biggest consumption of avocados nationwide is on Superbowl Sunday.”

Who knew?

Well, I like Produce Pete, and I like avocados, but mostly I like sticking toothpicks into things and storing them out of direct sunlight for two to four weeks.

Here are Pete’s instructions:

Grow Your Own Avocado Plant

And here is another set of directions from someone who isn’t Produce Pete. These are more thorough, but this lady doesn’t have a catchy name so all she gets is a lousy link.

So here’s my little guy. I’ve named him Horatio the Festive.

Stay tuned for periodic updates. Only 8-10 years before he starts producing fruit. Wheee!