Real local artesania in Melaque

The first foto is of a Cuastecomate fruit on the tree I took 5-6 years ago in Ranchito. The owner said something about medicinal qualities and you could make bowls of the shell. I've not seen the tree, the fruit or anything related since. One of the local gringos recently found this young guy that carves the shells into really nice pieces of art. It takes a couple hours of carving but can take over half a day in the hills looking for the trees. I waited until I spoke with the artist and bought some of his wares before I posted the related fotos and video. Still would like a little more info on the process ... like what is inside and how do you get it out.   Also are they seasonal and you can only work with them at this time of year.

I forgot from my original post with the older photo the fruit is actually a Tecomate and Cuastecomate means coastal Tecomate. Other common names for the tree are Calabash tree and Jicaro.   The Jícaro Artist in Costa Rica

Cuastecomate fruit in Ranchito

The "piggy bank" I just bought

A variety of designs and ages

Artist tools

Coastal Avocado

Off and on I've been trying to find info about what the nursery guy told me was a "coastal avocado". My little tree is not yet a meter high so I haven't been real excited about it but it seems to be doing better with the rains. I also didn't include a foto but probably posted one in the past.

My interest peaked again when a neighbor said someone has a tree full and we're invited to pick a bunch. In the foto below of the tree you can't see an Avo but it is really full. We used what locals call a gancho to pull the fruit down. It's a long bamboo pole with a basket on the end, same tool that is used to pick mangoes. So we got about 10 with 4 for me. I've been using a gancho to get fruit from my roof off the two large mango trees in the lot next door.

So with all my Internet searching I find there are three basic avocado families; Mexican, Guatemalan and Antillean (West Indian). Antillean, which probably originated along the Pacific coast in Central America, yields well in lowland tropical situations and warm subtropical areas such as southern Florida. The Antillean also has smooth skin and is more pear shaped than round. The Mexican-Guatemalan hybrids originated around Atlixco in Puebla State where avocados have been traced back 7-8000 years. The Atlixco avocado was the one introduced into California as a 'Fuerte'.   Sounds to me like it's highlands vs. lowlands avocados.

Avocado tree

Our avocados

Many types of avocados

Gancho for mangoes and avocados