Known for its microclimate, this island grows avocados

“I ate the last one yesterday. It was delicious! Benjamin Goues is one of the few French people who can eat avocados from his garden. This garden is not really his. Responsible for the Georges-Delaselle gardens, the young man is at the head of an incredible botanical space bringing together 1,700 species on just over two hectares. Its particularity: being located on the island of Batz, off northern Finistère not really known for its mild climate. For the past few years, these incredible gardens have nevertheless offered an astonishing winter spectacle by making falling from the sky some lawyers. And all this nearly 9,000 kilometers from Mexico, the world’s leading producer of this rather fatty fruit.

So far, six fruits have fallen from the sky on the island of Batz. This is a little less than last year, when the gardeners harvested twelve, here off Roscoff. “The first time we had fruit was in 2015. It was during the summer. We were very surprised, especially since we didn’t see them grow,” remembers Benjamin Goues. The only avocado tree on the island was planted there about thirty years ago. “Normally avocado trees give after two to three years. For us, it took thirty years. We have to put things into perspective, we are not going to launch a commercial production, ”slips the young man with humor.

Created in 1897 by a Parisian insurer passionate about botany, the garden of the island of Batz has long been maintained but sometimes been abandoned. – Georges Delaselle Garden

The tree is now seven to eight meters high but remains protected from the wind thanks to the thick canopy that surrounds it. Above all, it takes advantage of the microclimate of the island of Batz, where it is “never cold”, according to its inhabitants. It was here that in 1897, the wealthy Parisian insurer Georges Delaselle established a tropical garden, helping to plant the first trees on the island. The avocado did not arrive until much later.

Climacteric fruit

Since the atypical summer of 2015, the tree bears fruit every winter, in greater or lesser quantities. For only care, the gardeners offer him a thick mulch, which gives him a lot of humus. This case is not unique in Brittany. Elsewhere in Finistère, a few individuals have also succeeded get some lawyersoften in very sheltered places.

Like the kiwi or the banana, the avocado has this particularity that it only ripens once it has been picked. It’s called a climacteric fruit, which requires ethylene to ripen. “When they fall to the ground, they are hard as pebbles and all green. You have to wait several days for them to mature,” confirms the manager of the island’s garden. He swears that after that, they are “delicious”.

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