In honor of the 142nd Arbor Day, let’s celebrate trees and plant one. Last year I planted an avocado seedling, we’d grown from a pit, in our yard. Unfortunately, it had a mishap so I’m trying again this year.
Trees are beautiful in their own right and good for the environment and people. Tree leaves and needles absorb carbon dioxide and convert it to oxygen. They store carbon in their branches and trunks. Roots anchor and feed trees, help the soil retain moisture and prevent erosion. Trees provide shade, food, flowers, wood, and habitat for plants and animals.
Arbor Day Background
Nearly a million trees were planted the first Arbor Day held in Nebraska on April 10, 1872. Julius Sterling Morton, a member of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture, who later became the 3rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, proposed Arbor Day as a tree-planting holiday to encourage planting trees for their beauty and utility.
Arbor Day spread from Nebraska to other states which adopted their own dates and traditions. At some point, the last Friday in April was settled on for national Arbor Day.
10 Facts about Avocados
- Avocados are fruits.
- California produces approximately 90% of the U.S. avocado crop.
- Avocados ripen about 7 to 10 days after being picked.
- About 43% of U.S. households buy avocados.
- A mail carrier and horticulturist, Rudolph Hass, created the Hass avocado in 1926.
- An avocado tree can grow to a height of over 60 feet.
- Avocados are also called alligator pears due to their shape and green bumpy skin.
- At about 250 calories each, avocados are chock full of healthy monounsaturated fats, nutrients, and antioxidants.
- On average, a single avocado tree produces 150 avocados each year.
- Storing part of a leftover avocado with its pit in the fridge will help it stay green and fresh longer.
Growing an Avocado Tree from a Pit
The year before last, my spouse, an avocado eating fan, decided to attempt growing an avocado tree from a pit.
The avocado pit was stuck with toothpicks and perched on the rim of a glass jar filled with enough water to slightly submerge the flat end of the pit. The jar was placed on the counter in our kitchen’s sunny bay window next to the dish drainer that never seems to get put away.
After the pit cracked opened several weeks later, it was fun to see first the root and then a tiny sprout being to grow.
When the seedling was about six inches tall, we planted it in our yard inside a chain link fence area installed by a former owner. We live in a forest where deer and other critters roam freely so if you want to grow anything from a rosebush to an avocado tree; it must be within an enclosure.
The little avocado tree grew at a snail’s pace. We occasionally watered it by hand and kept the weeds at bay. After a year and a half or so, it was about 24 inches tall. We were well on our way to making guacamole from our own avocados in ten to fifteen years. Until a few weeks ago, when we accidentally left the fence gate open.
In the morning my spouse saw a young doe grazing inside the fenced area and noticed the open gate. The deer was just eating weeds but we decided to close the gate later that day. The next morning, the deer was back, this time having jumped over the fence. She was serenely munching off the top leaves of the tiny avocado tree. That did it. My spouse went outside which startled the deer and she jumped back over the fence.
We’ve seen her since then but not inside the fence. Whew! The avocado tree looks like it will survive the unexpected haircut.
Arbor Day Avocado Tree Seedling Planting – Round One
My spouse thought we should have at least two avocado trees to ensure the avocado flowers would be pollinated and grow avocados. So we grew another seedling to join it’s slightly larger cousin already growing in the yard.
On Arbor Day last year, I carefully selected a location within the chain link fence, not to close to the composters, and about 15 feet from the other tiny avocado tree and the huge Monterey pine tree already occupying the area. I dug a hole, placed the seedling in it, piled the dirt back in, and gave the seedling a drink. I checked on it daily. All went well for about a week.
One afternoon, after emptying the compost pail into the composter I glanced over at the little seedling. It had been dug up and was lying on its side shriveled up. I walked over to investigate. Apparently, I had planted the seedling in the middle of a vole underground highway project intersection. When the tunneling voles reached the tree pit, they viewed it as a construction impediment, dug it up, and pushed it aside.
I tried to revive the seedling by planting it in a new location, but it didn’t make it.
Arbor Day Avocado Tree Seedling Planting – Round Two
Not deterred, my spouse grew another avocado seedling from a pit. It’s been in a water filled jar for several months and we keep saying we need to plant it but haven’t done so. As Arbor Day approached, I decided it presented an ideal opportunity to not only plant the seedling but redeem my Arbor Day disaster from last year.
The voles have relocated to another part of the yard so I planted the avocado seedling in a similar area to last year. Perhaps in a decade or so our two little avocado trees will grow up and bear fruit. That is if the voles don’t move back in and we remember to keep the fence gate closed.
Call to Action – Plant Your Own Tree
For Arbor Day select a seedling, sapling, or grown tree and plant it in your yard. Don’t have a yard of your own? Help plant a tree at your apartment complex, local school, or a neighborhood park.
“Arbor Day is not like other holidays. Each of those reposes on the past, while Arbor Day proposes for the future.” —Julius Sterling Morton
Related Posts
- Arbor Day 2013 – Plant a Tree
- Bird Day – Celebrate All Year
- John Muir: The Eight Wilderness Discovery Books – Book Review
- Sustainable Forest Management and Certified Wood
- The Lorax – Book Review
Resources
- Arbor Day Foundation
- California Avocado Commission – Fun Avocado Facts
- The Hungry Mouse – How to Grow an Avocado Tree from an Avocado Pit
- Wikipedia – Avocado
- Wikipedia – Hass Avocado
