The retired teacher grows 200 varieties of fruit in the tropical garden he established.

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A retired teacher living in Samsun created a tropical garden with 200 varieties of fruits collected from 50 different countries. The teacher, who did what was said to be impossible, harvested the avocado tree in his garden.

72-year-old retired teacher Hakkı Albayrak, who was impressed by the fruits and vegetables he saw in the places he served abroad, started to grow the seeds of the products he saw in the places he worked and traveled in the garden of his home in Samsun. Albayrak, who does not engage in greenhouse farming and only produces natural products that bear fruit in the Black Sea region, transformed his garden into a tropical garden over 20 years.

Hakkı Albayrak, who grows 200 varieties of products from Chinese beans to Indian bananas, from Indian tree melons to Mexican avocados, and from Frank grapes to goji berries, continues to consume, propagate, and sell the fruits he produces. Recently, Albayrak harvested the avocados and sechium edule grown in his garden.

"I EXPECTED 2,000 AVOCADOS BUT I WILL HARVEST 200"

Pointing out that the number of fruits has decreased due to the early shedding of avocado flowers, Hakkı Albayrak said, "Today I harvested the avocados. These are early avocados. Because the others are collected towards January. The avocados I have are of the Brussels type and have been grown from seeds. They do not require grafting, and since male and female flowers are on the same tree, they pollinate each other. These avocados are tastier than those on the market. Since no chemicals are used, they also stand out as organic. Additionally, one more advantage is that their seeds are much smaller than others. When the seed is planted, they can grow into trees. There are avocados that weigh around 500 grams. This year, I expect to harvest 200 avocados. The harvest amount has decreased due to the high number of flowers throughout Turkey. The harvest was lower last year due to frost. This year, I expected 2,000, but the yield decreased due to flower shedding. I did not waste the fallen avocados. I made puree, jam, and pickles, setting an example for other avocado producers. Especially the pickles turned out great, and their taste resembles chestnuts," he said.

"I HARVEST FRUITS FROM MY GARDEN 12 MONTHS A YEAR"

Emphasizing that he harvests products from his tropical garden throughout the year, Albayrak stated, "Right now is the harvest time for autumn fruits, avocados, and sechium edule (autumn cucumber). Sechium edule is known by many names across Turkey. For example, it is called Girit, Cyprus, and Rhodes squash. Some know it as spiny squash, but these are not spiny. Cucumber is also a member of the gourd family. This sechium edule, brought from Australia in 2000, was called 'vegetable pear,' but it did not catch on, so we named it autumn cucumber since it is also used for cucumbers. In addition to these, it is also the harvest time for fruits like mandarins, oranges, and kumquats. I harvest fruits from my garden 12 months a year," he said.

In Albayrak's garden, there are also fruits from 50 countries such as Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, India, Japan, Iran, Germany, and America, including passion fruit, dragon fruit, chokeberry, cream tree, tamarillo, green lemon, California hazelnut, giant fruit, stevia, star fruit, koala fruit, pomelo, kiwano, miracle fruit, sechium edule, black pepper, black potatoes, kumquat, watermelon cucumber, black wheat, red kohlrabi, physalis, and chicory.