Roughly twenty years ago, when I was first married, I bought an avocado at the grocery store and tried to get its seed to sprout. I followed my mother's directions exactly, but no roots began to grow. Thus, began a minor mission that has lasted some twenty years and travelled with me to Texas and back, to 2 apartments, 2 duplexes and 3 houses.
No matter what I did, I could not get an avocado seed to grow... except once. I guess it was about 17 years ago. A root began to form from the bottom of a seed, which itself began to split. The root was about half an inch long and I was sooo excited! Then, somehow, despite my excitement, I allowed the seed to get too dry and it died in its jar of water. Arghh! Small success that it was, I determined that the next time my seed started to sprout roots, I would just plant it right away.
Next time? What "next" time? That was the ONLY time! Still, I kept trying to sprout a seed to get an avocado plant to grow. When I was living in the Austin, TX suburbs, my neighbor had a huge avocado plant that she had sprouted from a seed. She gave me some of her tips. Still, it did not work. Then, I moved back to Wisconsin and took a break from cooking for a few years. No cooking means no avocado seeds. No problem.
This last July, some family came to visit my house for the first time and my daughter and I made guacamole for them. We used two avocados. I remember looking at those seeds in defeat, wondering if I should even bother to try. Clearly, I am not meant to ever sprout a seed. I almost threw them both in the trash, but something stopped me. Perhaps it was the potential represented by the seeds. I don't know. What I do know is that I stuck toothpicks in their sides and stuck them both in little containers of water.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I used those flimsy, flat toothpicks instead of the sturdier round ones. The toothpicks holding up my avocado seeds kept falling out or breaking off! I felt very frustrated but determined that one of the seeds looked like it was beginning to form a nub on its bottom, out of which I believed a root would grow. I decided to stick it in some dirt and see what would happen. After all, I figured, that was better than certain failure from having the seed drown or the root break off when it fell down or something along those lines.
Together, my daughter and I poked some holes into an empty, plastic sour cream container, filled it with dirt and planted the seed with the nub on it. Then, for no apparent reason, we also planted the other seed in dirt. But the only container I could find for it was an empty yeast jar. It was glass, so we obviously could not poke drainage holes in its bottom, and its mouth was almost exactly the size of the seed itself, so we could not even test the soil's dampness with a fingertip. Despite that I doubted the seed would grow, it got planted.
I put both seeds on my front porch and watered their soil whenever I watered my other porch plants... about once a week. Once a week does not seem to be enough watering for avocado seeds on my front porch. The seed I thought had the best chance to sprout looked like it was thinking about forming a crack to let out a sprout, but nothing ever came. The other seed looked like nothing was either happening or ever going to happen. Still, I watered both seeds every time I went out to water my other plants.
Then, in August, the very week that I was due to leave to drive my daughter to college, I saw a mini-miracle that had been 20 years in the making. My seed, the one in the yeast jar that I thought had no chance to ever grow, sprouted a shoot. It turns out that because the jar had no drainage holes, the seed was effectively sitting in mud for the entire time it was on my porch. It had the moisture and nutrients it needed to form a massive root system (that I had to pry out of the jar using a table knife so I could plant it). I did not see the roots forming because of the yeast label. (I had not bothered to clean it off the jar because I thought the seed would just die, anyway.)
What a surprise! It is also kind of a lesson, though, don't you think? Just because we cannot see progress does not necessarily mean it is not there. Also, even seemingly hopeless situations that have been tried countless previous times are not necessarily devoid of potential. Sometimes, we just need to try a slightly different angle to our method (like using a yeast jar full of mud instead of clear water and toothpicks) to make things finally work out.
No matter what I did, I could not get an avocado seed to grow... except once. I guess it was about 17 years ago. A root began to form from the bottom of a seed, which itself began to split. The root was about half an inch long and I was sooo excited! Then, somehow, despite my excitement, I allowed the seed to get too dry and it died in its jar of water. Arghh! Small success that it was, I determined that the next time my seed started to sprout roots, I would just plant it right away.
Next time? What "next" time? That was the ONLY time! Still, I kept trying to sprout a seed to get an avocado plant to grow. When I was living in the Austin, TX suburbs, my neighbor had a huge avocado plant that she had sprouted from a seed. She gave me some of her tips. Still, it did not work. Then, I moved back to Wisconsin and took a break from cooking for a few years. No cooking means no avocado seeds. No problem.
This last July, some family came to visit my house for the first time and my daughter and I made guacamole for them. We used two avocados. I remember looking at those seeds in defeat, wondering if I should even bother to try. Clearly, I am not meant to ever sprout a seed. I almost threw them both in the trash, but something stopped me. Perhaps it was the potential represented by the seeds. I don't know. What I do know is that I stuck toothpicks in their sides and stuck them both in little containers of water.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I used those flimsy, flat toothpicks instead of the sturdier round ones. The toothpicks holding up my avocado seeds kept falling out or breaking off! I felt very frustrated but determined that one of the seeds looked like it was beginning to form a nub on its bottom, out of which I believed a root would grow. I decided to stick it in some dirt and see what would happen. After all, I figured, that was better than certain failure from having the seed drown or the root break off when it fell down or something along those lines.
Together, my daughter and I poked some holes into an empty, plastic sour cream container, filled it with dirt and planted the seed with the nub on it. Then, for no apparent reason, we also planted the other seed in dirt. But the only container I could find for it was an empty yeast jar. It was glass, so we obviously could not poke drainage holes in its bottom, and its mouth was almost exactly the size of the seed itself, so we could not even test the soil's dampness with a fingertip. Despite that I doubted the seed would grow, it got planted.
I put both seeds on my front porch and watered their soil whenever I watered my other porch plants... about once a week. Once a week does not seem to be enough watering for avocado seeds on my front porch. The seed I thought had the best chance to sprout looked like it was thinking about forming a crack to let out a sprout, but nothing ever came. The other seed looked like nothing was either happening or ever going to happen. Still, I watered both seeds every time I went out to water my other plants.
Then, in August, the very week that I was due to leave to drive my daughter to college, I saw a mini-miracle that had been 20 years in the making. My seed, the one in the yeast jar that I thought had no chance to ever grow, sprouted a shoot. It turns out that because the jar had no drainage holes, the seed was effectively sitting in mud for the entire time it was on my porch. It had the moisture and nutrients it needed to form a massive root system (that I had to pry out of the jar using a table knife so I could plant it). I did not see the roots forming because of the yeast label. (I had not bothered to clean it off the jar because I thought the seed would just die, anyway.)
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