Friday, January 16, 2015

The Avocado Harvest


When I bought my first home, it had an avocado tree in the back yard. As young adults, newly married, my husband and I were excited that we had this source of "free" food. We ate avocados for breakfast, avocados for lunch, avocados for dinner. Avocado sandwiches. Avocado salad. Avocado smoothies. A neighbor lady taught me how to make guacamole. We gave away avocados. After one season, I was sick of avocados. Then we moved to the mountains. Soon I forgot my aversion to the green fruit and longed for the tree in the back yard.


At today's prices, avocados are a fantastic commodity. My oldest son has three avocado trees in his yard. I think he should get a stall at the farmer's market. We spent a sunny, Southern California Sunday harvesting avocados from one of his trees. We gave avocados to the neighbors. We brought avocados to church. And we still have several bushels of avocados in the garage. The boys practiced their pitching skills with grandpa. The dogs ate some and got gas. I think they are all going to ripen at once (the avocados, not the dogs).


This time I am ready. Sharp knife and spoon in hand. Avocados make great road food. I do not like the texture of avocados after they have been frozen and I suspect they do not can well, so it will mean a lot of creativity once they are ready to eat. Avocado will replace my breakfast banana. It will go into smoothies. We will add them to our daily salad. Stuff them with chopped meats and other veggies. Mash them into guacamole and eat it with chips and carrots. Put them in sandwiches and along side everything. Use them for facial masks and moisturizer. They are packed with vitamins and good oils. We will give more away and when we can't eat any more, we will trim the trees way down so that they don't produce in such over abundance for a few more years.

Avocados anyone?

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