Holy Guacamole!

My mom loved avocados!! I remember her eating them all the time when I was a kid. I also remember her poking the seed (stones) with toothpicks and soaking them in hopes that some day she would have her very own tree! Unfortunately, I also remember seeing avocados in the grocery basket every time we went shopping. My mom's wish for an avocado tree never came true but perhaps my luck will be different! I have been planting stuff consistently for the past 3 months without putting the first bean on the dinner table but I figured what the heck, I will give it a shot. Afterall, everything happens for a reason and the last time we went to the market they were giving out free samples of guess what, avocados! That has to be a sign right? We love guacamole but the lady was actually serving salsa, diced tomatoes, and diced avocado on a ritz cracker and it was delicious. We bought everything we needed to recreate this delicious little snack and ate it a few times during that weekend.

So that left me with 3 avocado stones so I figured I would triple my chances. Here are the instructions I followed (compliments of eHow):

1. Clean the avocado stone to a smooth shiny surface. Do not remove the outer skin of the stone.

2. Locate the top of the avocado stone (the pointed end) and insert four or five toothpicks into the sides of the stone about 1/2-inch from the top of the stone and 1/4 inch deep. The toothpick pattern, when inserted into the avocado stone, resembles the spokes on a bicycle tire.

3. Fill a glass jar with water and suspend the avocado stone in the mouth of the jar by the toothpicks. The stone must be submerged at least half way in the water. Never allow the avocado stone to become dry.

4. Set the jar in a warm location. Change the water every two to three days to keep it from growing bacteria, which will kill the avocado stone.

5. Wait three to five weeks for the avocado stone to crack open at the bottom and send out a tap root. Within a week, the top will send out a single shoot. Keep changing the water as needed in the jar.

Read more: How to Plant Avocado Stones | eHow.co.uk http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5872817_plant-avocado-stones.html#ixzz1Y4dqaHh8

So here are the results of the first 5 steps:

The last step was to set a reminder to change out the water every two to three days. Stay tuned and wish me luck!