I wish I could grow dates - Phoenix dactylifera

Yay for Date Shakes! Every year I have to take my kids to the Cabazon dinosaurs.

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hadley’s deglets are so addictive.

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Hadley’s Date Catalog :slight_smile:

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you californians are sooo lucky. Being able to grow avocados, bananas, dates at one extreme, and also able to grow chestnuts and cherries at the other extreme. I can’t think of any other place in this universe where one could do that

I’m not aware of any single location in the state that can produce all these fruits with quality when grown outdoors 24/7/365.

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obviously, but you still have it so good regardless.

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Thanks for the link. I thought the dates would make a good Christmas gift but too late to order them. I ordered them anyway and to my surprise they arrived today. Only three days after placing the order, California to NY.

I hope they’ll be sharing with you! My favorite was deglect noor; had a butterscotch/maple taste at the end.

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same here. My tastebuds sense a nutty-creamy flavor that haven’t tasted in other dates have tried. Deglets are sweet, but not as richly-sweet as others, so it is easier to eat in large amounts.

If you want to try some extra special dates with more complicated flavors, try Cire dates from Flying Disc Ranch and Tarbarzal dates from Patos Dream Date Gardens, both in SoCal. Those are from seedlings grown out in the US. If you want to try some of the better dates from Saudi Arabia, you can get Khidri aka Khudri and Mabroom from the ZumZum store in New York. They also have other date varieties. All 3 of these businesses have web sites.

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@castanea, thank you for sharing your experience with dates. I just love 'em!

Here’s the web sites of the places you just mentioned:
Flying Disc Ranch Dates
Pato’s Dream Date Gardens
Zum Zum store

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And BTW, Patos and Flying Disc don’t use any pesticides or herbicides in growing dates not do they do any of the things many date growers do to extend the life of dates like freezing them or rehydrating them. They sell only fresh dates. The best medjools I have ever eaten were from Patos.

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In that location (Thermal CA) birds are the only pests of note for dates. Notice though they don’t talk about filtering their water or fertigation with natural potassium supplements. :slight_smile:

Another :thumbsup: for Hadley’s!

If you love the dates/dark chocolate/walnuts combo, these cookies are incredibly good:
The Healthiest Cookies EVER (Paleo, Vegan)

While we’re at it, what chemicals are typically sprayed by date growers? Not to judge, just for greater understanding. :slight_smile:

I don’t know what chemicals they use but date palms are subject to a wide number of problems that can harm either the plant or the fruit. This link has a long list of the potential problems they can have, although the US does not have all of these problems - http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/y4360e/y4360e0g.htm

Barhi seeds germinate very easily in my zone 8b. You could leave them outside for the winter and plant them in late spring. They have a high rate of germination. I just kept one specimen. The one in photo is about four years old.
When I water I just sprinkle it. It is kept outside in full sun all year.
Rabbits love to eat the leaves when seedlings are extremely young.

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