Post Number 2 - How to Grow an Avocado Plant

If you have been successful and got your pit to root and sprout - "Yeah for you!" (If you don't know what the Diva is talking about, see the blog post #1 for info).

Your avocado pit (after about 2 - 6 weeks) should look like these photos - with some white roots coming out of the bottom and a strong green sprout coming out of the top.

If it didn't work - throw it out and try again. Some people say you need to peel off the bottom brown skin OR change the water more.

Another common hint is to keep it in a bright, sunny room - but not in direct sunlight.

Once you get it to this stage - (or perhaps another week or two - with lots of roots) its time to plant it into a pot. Gather the following:

1. 6" pot with drainage hole(s) on bottom
2. a piece of broken pottery or a sea shell
3. 1/2 cup of stones or pebbles or marbles
4. 3 or 4 cups of potting soil
5. 1 or 2 cups of sand or perlite (or other recycled material that makes soil drain well - e.g. cut up egg cartons, cut up "peanuts" from a shipping package, etc.).
6. a plate or shallow pan to go under the 6" pot

Basically - remember that avocado plants are "exotic" and from tropical or subtropical places originally. They like moist air and moist soil - but they do NOT like to sit in water. So you need to MAKE a soil that drains well.

Take the pot and put a "chard" of broken pot OR a sea shell over the drainage hole - so that water can get out (e.g. - the pot hole is not plugged by a rock or marble). Next, put in the stones (pebbles, marbles) so the bottom is covered and water can drain easily out of the pot.

In another bowl or bucket - mix the soil and sand (or perlite, recycled materials, etc.) so that you have a very light soil.

Put the soil mixture in the pot on top of the rocks - fill about half way.

"Snuggle" your pit and roots into the soil (gently!) and fill it up the rest of the way (so the roots are covered) and the pit's "head" sticks out about 1/2 inch - as well as all of the green shoot. (The top of the pit should stick out of the soil).

Over the sink (or outdoors) - water the soil & your baby plant well and let it drain. Put the plate or dish under the pot so water can continue to drain. Water your plant a lot at first - but make sure it drains well. Keep in a bright, warm place - but not in direct sunlight. Always water from the top - don't let water sit in the plate.

When your plant reaches about 12" - you can gently pinch it back - and it will grow a couple of "side branches" which will be stronger. If you want it "bushy" - keep pinching the top back. If you want a taller plant or tree -- pinch off side branches (only keep 3 to 5 on it).

Once your plant fills up it's pot with healthy roots - you should repot into larger and larger pots. It's best if you can do this in the spring (when its hormones are strong and it will have a fighting chance to keep growing). In summer, use a liquid fertilizer every 2 or 3 weeks. Cut back in the winter to every 6 weeks. Always keep its soil moist but never let it "sit" in water (avocados hate that!). Keep it's leaves moist with a spray bottle (to simulate a tropical climate). They do like bathrooms and shower areas for this reason!

I'll put up another post soon about growing it into a tree, what kind of trees, pollination, etc. There's is a LOT to know about all that stuff... so keep coming back or sign up for the blog so you don't miss any!

The Avocado Diva (www.avocadodiva.com)

Compare and Contrast "store" avocado to the Diva's AVOCADO

Twice this week I had a "skeptical" avocado discussion. These 2 people I know are dear friends and family (here in California) and each were wondering why anyone would buy an avocado online. So here is my response. "Size matters!" (Tongue in cheek). The avocado on the left (with the label) is a typical grocery store avocado. You can see that it is MUCH smaller - about 1/3 the size of the heritage avocado (a Bacon variety) on the right.

Now not ALL of the Diva's avocados are this huge -- some varieties (like a Bacon or a Lamb) are always very large, while others (organic, Mexican variety (from Cali - but a Mexican varital)) are always small. But the point is - the Diva's avocados are premium - large, robust, bright, right from the tree. You definitely get what you pay for.

Here's a list of other reasons that people might buy our premium avocados. Can you add yours too in the comments?! The Diva wants to know...

1. You can get unique avocados you won't find in the store.

2. They come right from the tree to your house.

3. We can get real California avocados - in season - (not from storage or foreign countries) all year round, because we source many kinds (not just Hass).

4.... what do you say?!... please comment.

Avocado Quiz

Hey Avocado Fans -

Here are three California avocados - do you know what varieties they are?

Post your answer in the comments and I'll send a treat to the person who answers correctly first.

Hint - all three are in season NOW.

I can source these all on Fridays from a local rancher (and 2 are organic!) - so place an order by Thursday and they could be yours to try.

New Recipe Alert - Avocado Butter on California Sourdough Bread

This is an easy and delish recipe for breakfast (loads of protein!) or as an appetizer.

Basically - you toast some San Francisco style sourdough bread.

In a bowl or platter - you mash up a creamy style avocado or two (Bacon, MacArthur, Edrinol, or Hass all work well). Squeeze a lime, sprinkle with Diva salt - and then spread on the toast.

For breakfast - this is quick and powerful. Keeps you full and satisfied until break time - because the avocado is full of "good" fats that keep your tummy full and happy. Avocados are a great way to keep your blood sugars level - because of the high protein levels. (Doctors even recommend them for diabetes patients to help them keep their sugar levels stable).

For an appetizer - it truly is delicious with bread straight from the grill - and using an avocado instead of garlic butter can save up to 75% of the calories! But they are so delicious - you might want to eat 75% more... so be careful!

What's wrong with this avocado?

Would you buy this avocado? What's wrong with it? What's wrong with us?

These are kind of trick questions - because this is a Bacon variety - so actually, there is nothing wrong with this avocado. The blemish is from rubbing against the bark of the tree. Yes - its pretty extreme on this one; however, the blemish won't affect the quality of it's flesh - because avocados are ROCK HARD while on the tree. Plus - almost ALWAYS Bacon avocados will have some blemishes on them (usually much smaller - but because it is so thin skinned, they always blemish).

But this avocado will NEVER make it to market. In fact, a Bacon probably won't make it to market ever - even if were perfect - because it's not "in style". Bacon's are lighter in oil and not as highly desired as Hass (the kind you see 99% of the time in grocery stores). There's nothing wrong with a Hass. There's nothing wrong with this Bacon either.

So what's wrong with us - that we don't know enough about our food to know when a locally grown product is even good or not? I'm not blaming you -- I didn't really know until I started sourcing and buying avocados that there WERE all kinds of them. I thought they were all the same! But there are over 500 varieties of avocados in California - and probably over 1,000 world wide! Biodiversity is important - to life, to foods, to the bees, to the growers, to other insects, to how we eat, to life!

So -- what's wrong with this avocado? Would you buy it? Tell me why or why not.

Sigh and signed -- The Diva

Eat Like a Cave Man (Cave Diva) Week

All Diva's seem to be constantly watching their figures ... and wanting to eat divine food at the same time, right? If you are a Diva - you probably have a fine man - and some beautiful children as well. So here's a tip from the Avocado Diva for YOU!

Establish a summer week to "Eat Like A Cave Man!" - your man will love it. Your kids will too. And YOU will secretly be including a lot of raw, yummy foods into their diets while improving your Diva curves for a week.

How? - Here's the basic plan. When we have "Cave Man Week" - we eat lots of foods that are in their most original form possible. This means loads of avocados (of course - remember that they are very high in protein and make for an excellent replacement of meat). We also eat lots of other fruits and veggies. We eat things like sunflower seeds, honey, grains, water (made into tea or infusions with simple leaves), etc.

Caveman week makes for an interesting discussion with the kids. They constantly ask the Diva-cave-woman "Is this raw? Is this processed? How could a caveman make that?! No way we can eat that!" It also opens your eyes to what kind of proteins a "caveman" would have had access to - more fish, less beef. More rabbit - less pork. Protein and fat from a fruit (like an avocado) would have been precious indeed! (No life threatening chase! No loss of arrows to get one!) Meat from a large animal would have been very rare indeed - saved for festivals - not daily consumption.

If you are lucky enough (like the Diva) to live near farms, the ocean, orchards and/or other fields - or very lucky - and grow some of your own food - these make for excellent discussion points all week. The kids and the Diva will drive out to the "pick your own" farm and select some veggies and herbs. We talk about how precious this food would REALLY be if we had to grow it ourselves for weeks and months before we could pick it and eat it.

We might go fishing at the ocean or clam digging - and eat those foods - and really appreciate the work that went into a small fish or handful of clams! (The "cave-son" really likes this part of caveman week...). We've been known to harvest a bit of kelp to put in a soup to add saltiness. Plus - my man likes it because we grill a lot (Fire! Cavemen love fire.)

So the Diva wants to know - what clever ways do you use to get your kids to eat a wide variety of foods? How do you help them connect to their "inner cave man". Leave us a comment or idea. Inquiring cave-women want to know!

(PHOTE NOTE: These are ancient "molecajetes" or grinding stones/bowls from local Chumash indians - the photo was taken at the San Luis Obispo mission museum.)

New Recipe Alert - Tomatillo & Avocado Dip

Here's a link to a recipe that one of our "fans" sent it. Looks great. Send us your ideas or links about avocados. The Diva loves to hear from YOU!

Tomatillo & Avocado Dip Recipe

Note: The Diva would recommend a creamy avocado to make dips with. This includes: Hass, Lamb, Edrinol, Santana, Pinkerton and/or a Fuerte.

New Recipe Alert

Do you need some new ways to eat your avocados? So do we! Share your ideas and you could get posted AND win a free box of heritage avocados! We'd love that.

Today -- there is a NEW recipe -- go check it out here

If you want to receive our recipes and newsletters via email, please sign up on the website!

Don't forget to send us your recipes too or leave them in the comment section. (Be sure and LIKE us on FaceBook so we can get a hold of you to send you a prize if your recipe is used!)

What do John Wayne and Organic have in common?!?

What do John Wayne and organic avocados have in common? Read the Diva's blog to find out more...

Are ALL the Diva's avocados organic? The answer to that is no and sometimes. Let me explain. The Diva sources her avocados from several small farms and ranches all over Ventura County - in order to find what we lovingly call "heritage" or "heirloom" avocados. Some farms and ranches use pesticides, others don't, some - well... let me tell you a story...

Some of these old farmers have trees like none you have never seen before. These are not the "whussie" trees, all in straight lines, all trimmed to the same shape and size. No - these are "John Wayne" like ranchers. These guys have trees that are HUGE and OLD and no ranch hand in their RIGHT MIND would climb up the ladder to get the avocados -- these trees do NOT need any pesticides!

NO, these trees are MIGHTY GIANTS. Amazing trees with amazing fruit. So are they certified organic?! NO. John Wayne is NOT going to do all that fancy, schmancy red-tape, hoop jump'n.

Imagine you are with me -- as one "John Wayne" rancher spits tobacco juice near my foot, - he explains how he NEVER uses pesticides on "that there tree". "Don't need it. Never has, never will".

On a more serious note - we DO sell some certified organic product. Right now its summer, so we can get Certified Organic Hass and Lamb. Check out this link to order some for yourself. Or if you'd rather have some "John Wayne" styled "organic" - order the Edrinol. Some poor ranch hand will climb a HUGE ladder and get you some. No extra charge for the tobacco juice.

100 Face Book Friends = 100 Free Avocados!

THANKS to YOU - we reached 100+ friends in about 2 weeks! Thanks to YOU we have shipped out 44 orders already!

THANK YOU!

To celebrate - the Diva would like to give away a YEAR's worth of our "Avocado of the Month" club (we send out 6 x 12 = 72...Oh rats, the Diva is NOT that good at math...)

So I guess we better figure out a way to give away another (counting fingers here) -- 26, erm, I mean 28 avocados! (Can you guess that the Diva is blond?!)

So to celebrate FURTHER -- she will give away a free MONTH of avocados to the next 5 people who sign up for the "Diva of the Month club".

To get your goodies -- do this now!

a. Comment below to AUTOMATICALLY be entered into our YEAR of FREE avocado drawing! Make sure you are also a "friend" (like) our Avocado Diva page on FaceBook (so we can let you know if you win!)

b. If you want to get a FREE MONTH - go to www.avocadodiva.com and sign up for the Diva Club - and we'll REFUND your first month!*

Thanks again for all of your kind support! Please pass along this info and let's get eating some heritage avocados!

The Diva
www.avocadodiva.com

* Here's the fine print - you knew there had to be some...right?! But SOME of it is GOOD news! ... read on...
A. There is NO purchase required to enter the free YEAR contest (yeah!) - just comment below AND be a FB friend. (FaceBook link)
B. To get the FREE MONTH of Avocados, well - we need you to sign up and BUY a month - and stay with us for at least 3 months. We'll refund your third month. Requires you to sign up for the monthly Diva Club ($24.95, includes shipping!) - go here for all the info: Diva Club Details
C. The Diva would really appreciate it if you also sign up for this blog - but its not required. ;-)
D. We'll do the drawing and alert the winner (via FaceBook) on July 20, 2011.
E. Winner must be 18 - live in the USA . No substitutions or cash value. Just avocados. That's it.