Historians and biblical scholars now believe that the honey referenced in the Book of Exodus refers not to bees’ honey but to the syrup prepared from dates. Turns out that the best way to preserve this highly nutritious fruit is to soak, cook, extract and reduce its syrup. As one of the oldest foods cultivated in the Mediterranean region, it makes complete sense that a reference to abundance would include good date production.
Medjool (Arabic majhūl) dates are known as the king’s fruit, once reserved only for royalty. These dates are large and sweet. Almost a century ago, California growers imported eleven medjool date palms from Morocco and nine survived, spawning the spread of date farming in the southwest United States.
Why are dates so expensive? It is a labor-intensive commercial crop, with farmers devoting most of their land to female date palms (which produce the edible fruit) and keeping just a few males or even purchasing the pollen when it is time to pollinate the female flowers. After the fruit buds form, each strand is thinned to allow better air circulation and bigger fruit. By August, the fruit bundles are bagged to protect from birds, insects, and dust. Dates are harvested by hand in the fall, sorted, graded, and sent to cold storage.
We learned all about date farming with a visit to Martha’s Gardens, here in Yuma. After sharing a delicious date shake by the courtyard fountain, we headed home taking the road less traveled.
After 1.5 miles of sketchy sandy trails, we determined the large CAT bulldozer parked on the trail was a good indicator that we were not on a sanctioned road! We carefully re-traced our tracks in the dust and made it back out to the secure pavement. Watch the video below of this adventure for Mike the van!
Where in the world are the Gills? 