Avocado Trees

Avocadoes are expensive, and C loved them when she was just starting solid foods, so we went through a bunch of them. I hated spending over a buck apiece, so after I read about how to start an avocado tree in Super Baby Food, I followed the steps. You peel the pit (there's a thin brown "skin" on the pit), poke a couple toothpicks in it and prop it in a vase or jar so about the bottom half is submerged in water. Like so:

And then you wait for it to split and pop out a root, like this:

And then, eventually, you pot it and water it, and it grows bigger than your daughter:

I've been thrilled with the success of this tree, but then I read (in addition to the years you wait before it will bear fruit) that you actually have to have at least two so they can cross-germinate, or something. [I should have paid attention in Biology class. Sorry, Mr. Cunningham.] So the tree at the bottom is Tree A, started in early 2007. The pit at the top is the beginnings of Tree B, started August 18th-ish, 2008. Let the cross-germinating begin...