Avocados would grow here, but buying guac is easier

Today’s question: It seems to me an avocado orchard would be a wise investment, or a few trees in the backyard. Will avocado trees grow and thrive in a desert climate? Well, you’re free to invest in whatever you want, but maybe an avocado grove wouldn’t be your best bet. At least not around here.

There are three main types of avocado: Guatemalan, Mexican, and West Indian. About 80 percent of California’s avocado crop is of the Haas variety, an offshoot of the Guatemalan type.

Your best bet here in Arizona probably is the Mexican, which is good at resisting cold temperatures, and, if you treat it right, can put up with our summer heat.

You will have to take tender care of a young tree. Paint the trunk white like you would a citrus sapling. Plant it in well-drained soil and water it three or four times a week during the summer. They don’t like salty soil, so you have to water slow and deep.

Then all you have to do wait for your tree to produce. If you planted from seed that should only take about 15 or 18 years and even then, around here, you might not get anything.

Or you can do some grafting, but even that is going to be slow going.

When watching the government officials provide updates and notices on the hurricanes, there is always a sign language interpreter nearby. They have very exaggerated and unusual facial expressions. Is that part of sign language?

Yes, very much so. Facial expressions — mouth and eye movements and the like — serve as modifiers for adjectives and adverbs.