Look what I found after 10 days away

When Ralph and I came back from our recent trip, one of the first things I did was check my gardens to see what had changed.

Not much could happen in just over a week, right?  Wrong!  There was so much to see!

There weren't any starfruit, also known as carambola, when we left on our trip but by the time we returned, the small tree just outside the west entry door was covered with soon-to-be-ripe fruit. After years of winter freezes that killed back this cold-sensiteve tree, it finally looks like we're going to have an amazing crop!

I knew avocadoes were beginning to develop before we went away but I didn't expect them to grow as big so quickly.  They're not ready to pick yet but will be soon and when they're ready, my - will they be good! Can hardly wait!

Figs are another fruit that was only beginning to develop when we left two weeks ago.  Upon our return, many of the LSU purple figs that we grow were already to be picked and eaten and shared with friends and family.

We weren't the only ones to notice the ripening figs.  The squirrels did too. If you look close at the picture above (click to enlarge) you'll see a partially nibbled fig on the tree.  I'm surprised the little bushy-tailed bandit didn't eat it all up like the one in the picture below is doing.

Squirrels weren't the only critters to take advantage of our absence. We got home after midnight.  The next morning, I looked out the window straight into the face of a wild turkey.  I don't know which of us was more startled.

I also noticed not one but two ospreys perched in the dead pine tree across the lake. Unfortunately, they flew away when I took my boat out for a row but I'm still hopeful that one day a pair will decide to build a nest on top of the snag and raise some babies.

A black vulture was also hanging around one of the snags.  The osprey may have been spooked by my rowing and flew away but the vulture didn't move at all when I rowed by.

I stumbled upon one final surprise late at night just before bed. Before going to sleep, I looked out the bedroom window and noticed one of my potted plants looking droopy (kind of how I felt after all that travel). So, I picked myself up and went outside to give it some water. I'm so glad I did because while there, I noticed a flower blooming in one of the succulents. I'm not sure what kind of succulent it is but now that I've seen it flower I realize it must be some sort of night-blooming cirius. That's the kind of welcome home gift I love to receive!

If you know what variety this is, please let me know

Homegrown Avocados

Our seven-year-old avocado tree is covered with large, pear-shaped spheres of potential goodness. My husband Ralph and I did a tentative first picking of the season today, harvesting a half-dozen samples to test for ripeness.

Although most people consider it a vegetable, the avocado is actually a fruit that grows on a medium-sized evergreen tree. Beneath the fruit’s green-skinned exterior are mounds of soft edible flesh surrounding a single pit, or seed. Related to cinnamon, sassafras and camphor trees, this member of the Laurel family is native to Central America, where the Aztec people considered it such a powerful aphrodisiac that they kept their daughters indoors during harvest season. Avocados were introduced to Florida in 1833 and to California 23 years later.

The rich-tasting, smooth and buttery flesh inside an avocado is incredibly versatile. In addition to being the main ingredient in guacamole, avocado-based products include items as diverse as ice cream, puddings, smoothies, soups and cosmetics.

An avocado smoothie (photo credit:  www.foodcoachnyc.com)

While I find the idea of an avocado facemask intriguing, my preferences for its use run more along more culinary lines. I enjoy eating the fruit by the scoopful, sliced on a sandwich or as a lumpy mash mixed with homegrown tomatoes, parsley, garlic and onions and sprinkled with lemon juice.

Guacamole (Photo credit: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guacamole)

Recognized as a nutritional powerhouse, avocados are high in fiber and rich in minerals such as potassium and magnesium as well as Vitamins A, C, D, E, K and eight kinds of B vitamins. An avocado is a source for monounsaturated “good fats,” which have been shown to improve cholesterol levels, reduce inflammation and lower the risk of heart disease.

With so many beneficial attributes, not to mention an appealing taste and texture, it’s no surprise I’ve been eagerly anticipating the harvest of our own fruit. But the problem with avocados is knowing the right time to pick.

Unlike other fruits that change colors as they mature, most varieties of avocado remain the same color throughout their growth. The size of the fruit, however, does not stay constant. Its length and girth increase as the weather warms. Experts say the best way to tell if an avocado is ready to harvest is to pick one when it looks big enough, bring it inside and then wait a few days to see if it ripens. Not what I’d call a scientific approach, but I’m willing to give it a go.

Watching our avocados grow

For the past couple weeks, I’ve been telling my husband that the avocados on our oldest tree are getting big — store-size big, which to me says, ‘Time to pick.’ Ralph’s response to my observations has been an assorted mumble of unintelligible grunts. The other day, however, tired of being ignored, I insisted he look at the tree himself.

Sure enough, once he stood beneath it and looked up at all the large fruit hanging down, he admitted I might be right.

Naturally, the biggest avocados were way out of reach, but by using an extension pole picking device, Ralph was able to snag a few of the larger fruits from the upper limbs. Since they were all still hard, we set the shiny-skinned fruit in the pantry to ripen. In a few days, they should soften up and be ready to cut open and taste.

If they do ripen properly, we’ll need to start harvesting the remaining fruit. A single tree can produce 60 to 150 pounds of fruit. While I doubt if our tree will be that productive, even half as many pounds of avocados is more than two people can eat.

It’s a good thing we have family and friends to share the bounty with and, of course, there’s always guacamole to make. If we get tired of that, a quick Google search for avocado recipes yields more than 19 million results, so finding a few new concoctions shouldn’t be too difficult. If I get desperate for something to do with all the avocados — who knows? — I might even whip up a facemask.

Recipe for avocado facemask at mobilebeauty.uk.com/diy-facial-masks

Homegrown avocados

Homegrown almost-ready-to-eat avocados...Hurrah!

A "Simply" Extra
The fruit on our avocado tree are getting so big!  I went out to check today and was surprised by how large they'd become.  To my untrained eye they seemed almost ready to pick.

June 27, 2013 - Looking like the real deal! 

This is the first year the tree has produced fruit and it's exciting to think we might soon have our own homegrown, organic avocados to eat.  Except...I really don't know when to pick them.

May 25, 2013 - Getting big but not big enough to eat...

April 21, 2012 - Little baby avocados just starting to develop

I have done a bit of research and from what I can tell, the only way to know if an avocado is ripe is to pick one and wait a few days.  If it starts to get soft that means it was ready to pick.  If it wasn't ready, it will begin to rot, remain hard or turn rubbery.

Here's what the University of Florida IFAS Extension says on the subject of harvesting avocados:

The easiest way to determine if your avocados are ready to harvest is to harvest one large fruit and place it on your kitchen counter top. A mature fruit ripens in 3 to 8 days after it is picked. If the fruit does not ripen properly (e.g., shrivels, becomes rubbery or exhibits stem end rot), select another fruit (again larger fruit are generally more mature than smaller fruit at the beginning of the season) and repeat the test.

Hmm...not a very precise or scientific approach but since there doesn't seem to be a better option, I guess we'll give it a try.