The other day I let our dog, Calli, out in the backyard to relieve herself and as I looked over into our neighbor's yard I noticed their fruit tree was teeming with countless baby green mango buds.

I love fruit trees and I think having tons of them on your property is a most excellent use of the land.

When we bought our house in California, there was not a fruit tree in site. It was all shrubs & ivy.

One of my dreams was to have my children and children's children enjoy fruit from that Calif. parcel for years to come so we planted two santa rosa plums, a kumquat, an apple, a white nectarine, a pomegranate, an Asian pear, an orange, a pluot, a mulberry, two cherry plums and a sweet Meyers lemon.

Nothing like experiencing fresh fruit off the branch and into the boca.

(FYI -Now that I live in FL, Boca can have a dual meaning. In So. Cal, boca is Spanish for mouth. In So. Flo, boca is an affluent city 40 min south of my office.)

I also dreamed of having bountiful avocado trees in my CA home where the guacamole was flowing but for some reason the trees never took.

I actually planted over four avocado trees and they all either died or were fruitless. This was a major source of sadness for me as an amateur gardener.

When we bought our house in Florida there were only two fruit trees in the backyard but guess what?

They were AVOCADO trees! One was like the Titanic- massive & producing tons of fruit. The other one was like Twiggy - scrawny & producing meager fruit. Either way, I was in bliss with delight over my trees.

However, immediately after buying the house, the painters we hired dumped all their paint buckets right under the Titanic, and just like the unsinkable ship, it went down fast.

It went from looking like a Giant Redwood to Charlie Browns Christmas tree.

Ninety percent of it died and dried up so I cut it down to the trunk.

But then after a while we saw signs of new life. Little green shoots sprang forth, new branches appeared, and it started to grow back at a good pace.

So, when I saw the neighbors mango tree bearing so much fruit I walked over to see how our avocado trees were doing.

The Titanic had made a remarkable comeback in its appearance& was sporting the most luscious, beautiful green leaves you ever did see but… there was not a single bud on the tree... absolutely no sign of fruit (top picture).

Twiggy, on the other hand, still had the ugliest, scrawny, greenish yellow leaves but it was bursting out the wazoo with prolific buds that look like is going to produce a banner crop this year (bottom picture).

I'm no arborist, but my guess is Titanic is still experiencing the fallout from Chernobyl while Twiggy is greatly benefiting from Calli's whoopsie's I've been burying underneath it for the past year.

Here's the takeaway:

Processed, artificial food can be toxic and weaken the body.

Unprocessed, natural, whole food can be life-giving and strengthen the body.

If you give your body high-octane superfoods like green leafy vegetables, healthy fats, clean meats, and living food from the farmhouse to the table, you're going to physically function better.

If you give your body high calorie, low nutrient, artificially made, processed food straight out of a can, box or package that has been sitting on the shelf for 6 months, you're probably not going to physically function as best you can.

What kind of fuel are you putting in the tank?

Have a Tree-mendous Thursday!

Dr. Derek 'Guac On' Taylor

P.P.S. - Are you or a loved one suffering with shoulder pain? Have you had shoulder surgery, injections, or trauma to your shoulder at some point in the past? Would you like to improve the mobility of your shoulder? If you answered, 'Yes' to any of the questions above, you don't want to miss out on our first Shoulder Workshop of the year:

"How to Eliminate Your Shoulder Pain, without the use of Drugs, Injections or Surgery!"

When: Tuesday, March 21st, 2023 @ 6:30PM

Where: South End Tennis Club (Banquet Room) ~ 2800 Skypark Dr. Torrance, CA 90505

Why: To learn how to improve the longevity of your shoulders, reduce levels of pain and get back to doing the activities/hobbies you love to do most without having to resort to drugs, injections, or surgery.

RSVP by calling the office at (310) 891-0102 to reserve your seat.