Grow an Avocado Tree!

You probably already know a great early science and garden project for your children is growing beans or sunflowers from seed. You might think such projects have to wait until spring - but that's not true. Avocado trees are easy to start any time of year, as long as you have a spot in the house that gets a fair amount of natural light. Here's how: * Grab an avocado from the store and eat it up. (It's yummy, high in fiber, vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin E, and folate, and has 60% more potassium than a banana.)

* Have your child wash the avocado pit with cool water (no soap). Pat dry.

* Insert three toothpicks into the widest part of the avocado pit, pushing them in about a half an inch.

* Fill a clear glass or jar with water. Set the avocado pit on the glass so the toothpicks sit on the rim and suspend the pit partly in and partly out of the water. The pit should be covered by about an inch of water.

* Place in a window that gets a lot or a moderate amount of natural light.

* Have your child check the level of the water daily, making sure the base of the pit always has about an inch of water over it.

* In three to six weeks, the pit will begin splitting open. Shortly after, roots will form in the water, and a green stem will pop out of the pit.

* When the stem is about five inches high, pinch off the top two leaves; this encourages the plant to grow more.

* When a couple more leaves have formed, carefully remove the pit and plant from the water and place in a 10 inch pot with good potting soil. The pit should be halfway in and halfway out of the soil. Keep the avocado plant in the house in a sunny window until the threat of frost is over. After that, you can plant the avocado tree outdoors, if you live in an area where tropical plants thrive. Otherwise, keep it in a pot, and move it indoors before the first autumn frost.