If you like to eat avocados, you may have wondered what to do with the pits or seeds inside them.

As you may have discovered, these take a long while to break down if you add them whole to your composting system, but you definitely should not simply throw them away.

To help you move closer to a zero waste lifestyle, here are seven unexpected, surprising, but most all, practical ways to use avocado pits:

1. Grow an Avocado Tree

The first and most obvious thing to do with the seed from an avocado is to use it to grow a new avocado plant.

Gently clean your avocado pit, taking care to note which end is the top (pointier end – towards the top of the avocado) and which is the bottom (wider, flatter end). The top end will have to be kept dry and the bottom will need to be submerged in water.

To achieve this, push toothpicks into the avocado around its ‘equator’, so it can be rested on top of a glass of water. Make sure the water level is around half way up the pit. Keep it topped up.

Patience is required. It can take up to 8 weeks for the pit to sprout, in a sunny location. Make sure it gets as much sunshine as possible. Since sun is required, it is best to attempt this in spring, when sunshine hours increase. A taproot will emerge and you cannot let this taproot dry out. Eventually, a sprout will appear at the top.

When the stem is around 15cm long, cut it back by half to encourage new growth. When it has grown to around 15cm again, pot your sapling in humus-rich, fertile soil.

Again, make sure your little avocado tree gets as much sunshine as possible. Water frequently but reduce watering if leaves yellow. When the stem reaches around 30cm in height, and after each new 15cm of growth, pinch out the top two sets of leaves to encourage the sapling to bush out.

There is no guarantee that an avocado tree grown in this way will fruit, or that the fruits will taste good if it does.

But though it won’t fruit for a very long time (years), if it fruits at all, an avocado plant could still make a nice houseplant to grow inside your home.

2. Grind or Grate and Compost It

Avocado seeds contain a range of beneficial nutrients – including calcium, magnesium, and quite a high level of potassium that can be beneficial for your plants.

Avocado pits placed whole into your composting system will not break down for a very long time, but grate or grind those pits and they could be a good ingredient to add to your compost heap, or simply to sprinkle around your plants as part of a mulch.

The potassium and other nutrients in the pits will be returned to the soil, and since the pits are high in potassium, they are particularly good for flowering or fruiting plants.

3. Make a Natural Pink Dye from Avocado Pits

But you don’t have to relegate those avocado pits to a composting system right away. You can also use them in a range of interesting ways around your home.

One excellent example is that you can use them to make a lovely soft pink natural dye.

To learn more about dying with avocado pits, check out this link:

4. Make a Hair Rinse/ ‘No Poo’ Shampoo

Moving away from commercial shampoos is very popular with those who want to live more eco-friendly and sustainable lives and move closer to zero waste. But finding the right recipe for your hair is not always easy.

Making a type of shampoo substitute from avocado pits is one more on a long list of options to consider. You can find out more here:

5. Make an Avocado Pit Facial Scrub

Another idea is to use dried and ground avocado pits as an exfoliant. They can be used to get rid of dry skin and can be combined, also, with the flesh of the avocado, which also has many great benefits for the skin. Here’s how to make a simple DIY facial scrub:

6. Make a Mobile/ Wind Chimes

Another crafty idea is to string a number of avocado pits, perhaps along with pine cones, shells, or other natural materials to make attractive wind chimes or mobiles for your home or garden.

To make the pits last longer, they can be dried and treated with linseed oil or an eco-friendly varnish.

7. Make Christmas Ornaments for Your Tree

Paint, carve or otherwise decorate avocado pits and you can also use them as decorations for a Christmas tree. You can treat them with a natural oil so their natural colour shines through, or paint them in a desired shade using eco-friendly paints. You can also carve designs onto them using woodworking tools, or use pyrography to burn on a design before you oil or wax them.

Of course, if you use your imagination you will find that there are also plenty of other ways to use avocado pits around your home. But the above ideas should give you a place to start when thinking about how to reduce waste in one more way where you live.

With basil being the perfect addition to salads and cooking, this article will guide you through the steps of growing and caring for basil in your garden. From choosing a location and spacing, to how to water it and protect it from pests, these are all simple tips to help you grow your own perfect basil!

Basil is a perennial, which means it will last through the winter and grow back again the following year. It can be a little tricky to find a good spot in your garden, as most of us use family plots or even driveways to plant our veggies. For these reasons, Basil grows best in containers and other areas with more soil space. Not only does it help give you more room to work but they also need more care so that they’ll grow healthy and have longevity!

How To Start A New Basil Plant From Seed

You can easily start a new basil plant from seed if you’re planning on growing the herb indoors. Simply purchase some seeds from your local grocery store and make sure you buy more than one. I like to buy several in case of any ‘miscalculations’ with my seeds. Use scissors to snip the seeds and scatter them into a jar or plastic container. Cover the containers with a towel and place them into your fridge or somewhere cool until they germinate in a few days to a week. Simply let the seeds grow until they sprout, which shouldn’t take longer than two weeks, then transfer them into their own pots or containers. Basil can be planted inside any time of year but if you want it to start flowering right away – mid-spring is the best time for this!

Planting Your Basil Seeds

It’s really important that you plant your basil plants as deep as the soil allows, and it’s also important that you do not cover the soil with plastic as this will cause problems with your plant. I always plant mine in an area of open ground at least 6 inches away from any wall or fence so that they can get plenty of sun and space to grow, however many home gardeners simply use a small window box or a large pot. You can even use some old terracotta pots and window boxes but make sure you take the plants out of them before winter.

How to Care for Basil Plant

Watering – Basil is a drought tolerant plant. However, it will do best in well-drained soil with adequate water. A good rule of thumb is to water your basil every week during the growing season, but only if the soil feels dry. When watering, aim to wet the surface of the soil, not the leaves.

Fertilizing – One of the best ways to grow basil from seeds is to fertilize them with compost or manure. Once the basil plants are established, you can water them with compost or rainwater. You can also mulch the plants to keep them cool in summer and warm in winter.

Harvesting

Basil is a great herb to grow in the garden because it can be harvested multiple times throughout the year. In early spring, basil is in its flowering stage and can be picked fresh. In summer, basil is in its fruit stage and can be eaten fresh or dried. In fall, basil is in its harvest stage and can be used as a flavoring for foods or brewed as a tea. Basil can also be frozen for later use.

We all love avocados, and especially in the summer, they are everyone’s favorite fruits! The avocado fruit is simply delicious and irresistible, and this food can be easily incorporated in your everyday diet, either alone or as a unique condiment.

However, a few of you probably knew that you can plant and grow your own avocado at home!

Therefore, next time you are slicing it for a salad, or you are preparing delicious guacamoles, remember not to throw the seed away, as you will need it in order to grow your own avocado trees.

However, people in areas with sunny and warm areas may enjoy in these fruits often, but since they can be easily destroyed by frost and cold, northern gardeners should follow some important tips in order to grow them at home.

First of all, extract the seed, by removing the pit from the flesh of the avocado gently. Wash it clean or soak the pit n some water for several minutes and them scrub it to eliminate all remains. However, note that you should keep the seed cover, that is, the brown skin of the pit.

Then, pierce it. All avocado pits have two ends, its top, that is, the end from which the sprout grows, and its bottom, from where the roots grow. The top is the end which is a bit pointier, and the flatter one is the bottom.

In order to stimulate it to sprout, you should put the bottom in some water. Therefore, it is important to determine which end is the bottom before you pierce the pit.

After you have soaked it in water, firmly wedge in some toothpicks. In order to leave a larger part of the avocado base soaking, you should stick the toothpicks pointing down.

Next, you need to leave the seed to sprout for 3-6 weeks. After this time, you will notice a sprout coming out from the top, as well as roots at the base.

As soon as the stem is grown for about 5-6 inches, pinch out the top set of leaves, and in a few weeks, you can expect to have new leaves and no more roots.

After some time, the sprout tail will be around 6-7 inches, and you will need to trim it in half in order to stimulate new growth.

Now, take a large flowerpot (for instance, 8″ to 10″ across) and place some enriched potting soil to about an inch from the pot’s top.

Place the pit in a small depression you will make in the center, but you need to put it root-side down. In order to water the pit, you should generously water the soil, as it needs to be really moist.

The image you see first is said to say a lot about the aspects of your personality that can impact your relationships