Jen's Pick: Rain unwelcome on the orchards

Orchardists need to be aware of the damage heavy equipment might do to the delicate roots of avocado trees.

I'm sure we're not alone in being completely bored with this constant rain.

It is causing havoc on our orchards as they attempt to harvest avocados to meet export and New Zealand market orders.

We are hearing of picking equipment getting stuck, and of orchards being churned up by heavy equipment. Our clear message is to highlight to our orchardists the need to be very aware of the damage heavy equipment might do to the delicate roots of avocado trees.

On a much sunnier note, we are excited by the interest in naming our cute little avocado man. We had more than 1200 entries in the naming competition and the winner is 'Ollie'.

We've decided he might be Oliver if he is mis-behaving, but we're sure Ollie will be the perfect smooth-talker he portrays on our new TV commercial. I hope you've all seen the ad. If not, have a look on our website.

In its inaugural appearance to the North Island, the Torpedo 7 Spring Challenge all-women's adventure race, more than 500 women from all around New Zealand competed.

As a sponsor of this event, which was held Saturday October 8, we also made more than 1500 avocado bliss balls to hand out to competitors at the finish line.

NZ Avocado was present on the day to congratulate competitors and give them small packages of our popular avocado bliss balls, and our avocado recipe booklet, as they left the finish line area.

Surprisingly in good spirits after completing either a three-hour, six-hour or nine-hour race, the women were more than enthusiastic about our presence and even more so for receiving some refreshing avocado-oriented sustenance.

The avocado bliss balls were a great healthy snack as they use all naturally healthy ingredients - dates, prunes, lemons, coconut and most importantly, avocado.

They were the perfect option for recuperating after an adventure race - but also a great option as a simple sweet snack to help you get through the day. Check out our website for the recipe www.nzavocado.co.nz

We will be making more batches of avocado bliss balls and a range of other avocado-centric samples for the Taste of Auckland festival in November.

It's a terrific opportunity to showcase the versatility of avocados to foodies, and a fun team-building exercise.

Our communications associate, Jodi Senior, is managing our Taste stand, but has enlisted at least six of the NZ Avocado team to support her over the four-day event, November 17-20.

If you are intending to visit Taste of Auckland, be sure to come and visit us at our stand.

We have also recently published a new set of Asian-inspired recipes using avocados.

We created them for our Asian markets but recognise that New Zealanders love Asian-inspired cooking, and love new recipes so I'm sure you'll find them great.

As summer approaches so too does the barbecue season, the time we invite family and friends over, and a new recipe is always great to try out on your friends.