Medjool dates grow in only a few places, including Yuma
It looks like spring is coming early this year, and March came in like a lion in the wind.
My citrus is full bud so hopefully the cold weather is done.
Last week I was with a group who visited a local date garden and learned about the amazing crop that our Medjool dates are.
The first Medjool trees were imported into Arizona in the early 1900s. To reproduce, you need the live offspring that grow on the base of the tree. You may plant a date seed and get a plant, but it will not be a Medjool.
This is the time of the year that the baby trees are removed and planted in nurseries to develop until needed for a new grove.
There is not a month in the year that there isn’t something to do on a date tree. In January the workers are removing the thorns from the fronds that will be surrounding the new date growth. This is done using lifts to the fruiting area on the palm and using a knife to cut them. Also dead fronds are removed at this time.
In February, the male trees produce their brown pods which contain the pollen flowers. Medjool dates require both male and female trees. The male pods are beginning to open now and they are not disturbed until fully open.
Then, workers go up and collect the pollen stalks, bring them down and remove the pollen and store it in freezers until the female trees produce their flower stalks in April.
The pollen is then applied to the female flowers by workers using bottles of pollen and puffing it onto the girls.
Palms do not attract insects and early on were wind pollinated. Today, some growers are trying to adapt drone technology to apply the pollen. It is safer and perhaps will be as effective as going up the trees and hand pollinating.
As the fertilized flowers begin to develop dates, workers again are in the trees thinning the number of dates so that the fronds develop the large Medjools. Again, this is all by hand.
They also bend the fruit bearing fronds so that the bunches of dates will hang properly as they develop.
When the dates are approaching the desired size, workers again are in the trees tying white nylon bags over the fruit to prevent damage from birds and other pests, tying the bags at the bottom and the top.
The bags also are water resistant to protect the dates from getting wet during monsoon storms. Since the fruit has a high sugar content, getting them wet can cause them to spoil.
Toward the end of summer, the workers are again in the trees, this time opening the bottom of the bags to collect the ripe dates that naturally fall from the bunch. This is done numerous times during the harvest season.
Once the dates are harvested they are dried, packed and shipped to customers. Dates freeze very well so the packed dates are available year round for our enjoyment.
Over the years, I’ve talked to many people who think that growing dates will be a suitable retirement occupation. After learning of the tremendous amount of work necessary to successfully produce a date crop, many change their minds.
Medjool dates are a wonderful, healthy fruit that can be enjoyed in many ways. After learning about date culture, I find them to be a great buy considering all the work that goes into producing them.
We in Yuma are lucky to have access to this wonderful crop, grown only in a few places in the world.