Last spring the Register’s resident artist, Kelly Doren, the man responsible for designing most of the feature pages, came up with the idea of asking readers to tell us how their gardens were growing and especially about their strange, unusual and interesting produce.

We weren’t sure if readers would respond, but much to our delight readers have been filling the page all summer and fall. With harvest wrapping up, we thought we’d share several memorable ones. And we’ve decided to keep the feature going all year. So, keep the ideas and photos coming.

Patience, patience

Do you remember taking an avocado pit and sticking it with toothpicks and putting it in water and waiting for it to grow into a tree?

  Barbara Guiducci’s children were skeptical when their mom did it, and it took a while, but 20 years later the Napa resident has a backyard full of avocado trees in Napa, and this year they’re bearing fruit.

According to Napa County Master Gardeners, this is some feat. Growing avocados outdoors in the Napa Valley is difficult, they said, because avocados are “only hardy to 24-30 degrees.” Nonetheless they added, “make great house plants and could be planted outside in a protected area.”

The likelihood of bearing fruit, however, is rare.

The Gardeners referred the Register to the California Avocado Growers Web site, http://www.avocado.org/about/growing_avocado.php, which provided more information about cultivation and pollination that would be useful to someone who wanted to turn a seed into a houseplant or tree. Here’s their advice, reprinted from the site:

1. Wash the seed. Using three toothpicks, suspend it broad end down over a water-filled glass to cover about an inch of the seed.

2. Put it in a warm place out of direct sunlight and replenish water as needed. You should see roots and stems sprout in about two to six weeks.

3. When the stem is six to seven inches long, cut it back to about three inches.

4. When the roots are thick and the stem has leafed out again, plant it in a rich humus soil in a 10-1/2 inch diameter pot, leaving the seed half exposed.

5. Give it frequent, light waterings with an occasional deep soak.  Generally, the soil should be moist but not saturated. Yellowing leaves are a sign of over-watering; let the plant dry out for a few days.

6. The more sunlight, the better.

7. If leaves turn brown and fry at the tips, too much salt has accumulated in the soil. Let water run freely into the pot and drain for several minutes.

8. When the stem is 12 inches high, cut it back to 6 inches to encourage the growth of new shoots.

This site also adds, “don’t expect your house plant to bear fruit. Although this does occur occasionally, it usually requires grafting. A plant grown from seed will take anywhere from five to 13 years to flower and bear fruit. Fruit on trees grown from seeds are seldom good to eat.”

The giant gourds

 Leonardo Urena has some kind of magic touch with his vegetables. Already a prize winner for his prodigious pumpkins, he has also turned his talents to another vegetable, gourds. He sent us a shot of the gourds he grew this summer. The one that measures 127.56 inches is a new world record. Urena works at Hudson Vineyards in Napa, but we have not yet heard reports of any gargantuan grapes.

Tons of tomatoes

Greg Swartz of Napa came up with this bounty of late harvest tomatoes in this array of varieties: German Green, Pineapple, Carbon Black, Mandarin, Green Stripe, Sun Gold, Yellow Pear, Brown Stripe, Black Prince, Cherokee Purple, SF Fog, Lemon Boy, Black Plum, Sun Goliath and Mortgage Lifter.

Swartz also included his grandmother’s recipe for what to do with all these tomatoes:

Grandma Tenuta’s Tomato Salad

(Puna Pane)

8 fresh ripe tomatoes, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces, mix up the color if possible

1 large bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

3/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

Kosher salt

Black pepper to taste

1 loaf of hard crusted Italian bread, for dipping

Combine the ingredients in a serving bowl. Stir to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand unrefrigerated for 30-45 minutes. Serve in salad bowls including the liquid at the bottom of the mixing bowl. Use the bread to soak up the liquid as you eat the salad.