Avocado… This delicious fruit with a creamy texture is incredibly good for your health. Rich in fiber, good lipids, minerals and antioxidants, its tender and tasty meat contains more than twenty vitamins. To have beautiful avocados in your home, grow your own avocado tree.

Planting a fruit tree is always a good idea. Although an avocado tree can take more than 8 years to develop and bear its first fruits, the result is always worth the effort we have given and the patience we have shown.

Here’s how to grow an avocado tree from an avocado pit.

grow an avocado tree

1. Core preparation

To start, cut up an avocado and collect the pit. Rinse it well to remove any meat residue on its surface, then let it dry.

2. Germination of seeds in a glass of water

Place your avocado pit with the point facing up and, following an imaginary horizontal line at its most domed part, plant three toothpicks, equidistant and slightly angled upwards.

Place the boneless core on top of a glass of water, resting on the chopsticks. Fill the glass with water enough to submerge half of the hole, then place it in a sunny location. Change the water regularly.

The seed should develop a root within a few weeks. It is from this moment that you can plant it.

3. Sowing the seed and caring for the plant

Fill a pot with potting soil and plant the germinated seed (from which you will have removed the toothpicks) into the soil, so that it sticks out halfway. Make sure the pot gets as much sun as possible and make sure the soil is always moist and well-drained.

Avocado trees are tropical plants that do not tolerate cold or frost. Place your small tree in a sunny location, protected from wind and temperatures below 15°C. As it grows, it will need to be transplanted into a larger pot.

Water your avocado tree generously, each time waiting for the soil to dry out a little before watering again.

Fertilize your soil with a fertilizer specially designed for avocado and citrus trees.

Reaping the fruits of your labor

After a few years, your avocado tree will be able to bear its first fruits. Avocados always stay firm as long as they are plugged into the tree and can remain there for several months. However, do not pick them until they have reached their maximum size. Once picked, they will mature in one to two weeks. 

To slow down the ripening process of avocados once picked, store them in the refrigerator. If, on the other hand, you want to speed it up, place them with apples on a plate or in the same paper bag. 

Once very ripe, try and savor your avocados in tartar, naturally with a vinaigrette or on toast.

Recipe for avocados with eggs and smoked salmon

Ingredients :

∙ 2 lawyers

∙ 4  eggs

∙ 2 slices of smoked salmon

∙  olive oil

∙ basil

∙ a few pinches of  chili  powder

Preparation :

∙ Preheat the oven to 200°C.

∙ Open the avocados by cutting them in half and pitting them.

∙ Remove enough pulp from the center of each avocado half to leave room for the smoked salmon and egg.

∙ Place half a slice of smoked salmon in each cavity and add an egg on top.

∙ Bake for 10 minutes.

∙ Drizzle olive oil over the avocado halves, sprinkle with chili powder and add a few basil leaves.