I recently had the pleasure of enjoying one of the best avocados I have ever tasted. From the size -- large, and plump -- to the color -- deep, uniform hunter green -- and the texture -- a perfect, healthy brittle texture on the outside and a smooth, soft inside -- the avocado was full marks all around. If there was ever an argument to be made on whether farming is an art, that avocado would have been the strongest evidence for such an argument. Seeing as I had eaten one of the best, I did the most logical thing: I saved the pit. I have taken up the challenge, in the hopes of reaping exactly what I sowed, to grow my own avocado tree from the pit. It is not easy; despite still being a seed, it needs quite a bit of maintenance. The water must be changed almost everyday, and the seed’s temperature range of tolerance is small. The seed will not begin to sprout until a month later, and I am currently at four days! That being said, I think this experience is giving me a valuable lesson in patience and diligence.

My seed will not be sprouting anytime soon, and yet I must put in a great deal of work just to bring my seed into germination. After my seed sprouts, it will take three, four, perhaps even fifteen or more years to fruit! You can imagine my struggle. At times I have thought of throwing the seed away, it is just so much work and I will not be seeing any major results anytime soon. The thing, however, that stops me is the memory of enjoying the divine avocado that yielded the pit! The slightly sweet, buttery taste of the avocado, and the relief that came knowing that what I was eating was completely healthy for me; that is what keeps me from tossing the seed in the trash. That and the old Chinese proverb that comes to my mind whenever I think of the coming, fruitless, tedious years to come: the best time to plant a tree was a hundred years ago, the second best time is now.

My little seed, bless it, is high maintenance; I must give it as much light as I can, change its water everyday, and keep it warm. I remove my little seed from my window side every night to prevent it from cooling and freezing. Make no mistake that even if I maintain these tasks, I am not guaranteed a sprouting seed; only higher chances of getting one. So my best chances of sprouting my seed come from punctiliously caring for my seed. This can get tiresome, of course, and I am deterred at times. If I miss a day, all that I’ve worked for might go to waste; so then what is the point of continuing past that? The point, I have told myself, is that I do not know for certain whether I have failed or not. If I give up because I think I have failed, then I will guarantee myself a failure because I will have given up. If I keep working, however, there is a chance that I have not failed. So I keep working toward my goal, a glorious avocado tree.

All these things that I am learning now are being taught to me by a humble pit; an avocado of all plants! I believe this is a valuable experience and I believe that it is valuable enough to suggest to you, my reader, to partake in it. There is something to be said about growing an avocado seed, it is like taking up meditation; you will come back new each time you engage.