Mr. & Mrs. MacGyver – Adventures with Avocados

When we bought this house more than 20 years ago, we did not realize it had an avocado tree. That’s because initially, it did not bear fruit – it takes quite a few years before avocados produce. Then one year, surprise – big, beautiful fruit. And we are talking really big – 1+ pounders (400+ grams).

A few years ago, the tree started looking poorly. The leaves were not fresh and green and the tree didn’t have as many avocados. We were concerned that perhaps the tree was dying. Last year, Martha took a branch from the tree to the Ministry of Agriculture to see if they might be able to help determine what was going on. The officer looked at the branch and offered to make a site visit. The next day, she came to the house and determined that the tree had an infestation of whitefly, and suggested fertilizer and possibly an insecticide spray. 

We dumped lots of leaf mulch around the tree, moved our compost pile under it, and waited. After a few weeks, we could see the tree was looking healthier and it was blooming. We were feeling hopeful!

The tree began to bear fruit, and we were surprised to have fruit ripen in December – over a month earlier than ever before. And the tree was loaded with many other avocados in various stages of development. 

The tree is quite tall – too tall to pick the fruit by hand.  And besides, we like to eat the fruit when it is naturally ripe. So now, several times a day, we hear this massive ‘bang’ on the roof, then sometimes a ‘bumpity-bump-bump’ down the corrugated iron and then a large ‘thud’ when another avocado hits the ground. Often there is a split in the fruit, but there is still plenty of good, healthy, yummy flesh to enjoy.

It’s a blessing to be able to share the fruit with friends. At the moment, we are getting lots of fruit but we are in lockdown, making it difficult to share the fruit. So, Mrs. MacGyver has been pulling out all the avocado recipes she has collected through the years. And Mr. MacGyver has been experimenting as well. Click below to see some of the MacGyver’s avocado treats:

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