Avocados

Avocados have a bazillion health benefits. well, probably more like a dozen but the point is, they’re good stuff. They are also thought to be good in aiding breast & oral cancer prevention and for heart health.

Post-apocalyptically speaking, you’re going to have to be in the right place if you plan to use avocados as a resource. Avocado trees do not tolerate cold at all and grow best in sub-tropical or tropical climates. They could probably fare well in a greenhouse but grow up to 20ft, so that could be a challenge. If I was feeling the need to have a plate of loaded nachos with guacamole, I’d head to California where there are about 5,000 commercial avocado groves in existence. Although…without people, not all the groves would survive without artificial watering.

The best way to propagate a successful tree would be to graft from seedling root stock but you can start a seedlings from the pit,too. You’ve seen that done,right? You stick toothpicks evenly spaced around the bulbous end of the pit, place it in a dish or cup with water, and wait for the magic to happen. One of my kids always has said the bottom of the pit submersed in the water reminds him of someone who  has fallen into the toilet . I think it looks more like that when you’re using a cup rather than a dish.

Like this:

[via  The Hungry Mouse]

Now, I can’t count how many times I’ve done this little activity with my own kids more for the lesson on germination than an actual survival skill but I’ve never been able to grow it past a very small seedling. I have seen it done though, so I do know it’s possible and  even knew someone once who had an indoor tree that bore very small fruits. This tends to be an exception. Most avocado trees grown from the pit won’t bear fruit or if it does, it won’t be the same as the parent tree. BUT, even if you never have avocados on your tree, you still have the beneficial leaves.  So,basically…if you grow an avocado tree from the pt, what you end up with is a very nice looking houseplant that has some medicinal uses.

Caution: The leaves are an abortafacient, so if you’re pregnant and wish to stay that way, don’t ingest avocado leaves.

Besides eating the avocados, you can also make your own avocado oil, which is good for skin conditions , not just cosmetic but healing for inflammations and abrasions.