Death Valley's Date Palms, photo Richard Elliott
Back in the 1920’s, the Pacific Borax Company transformed Furnace Creek Ranch, in Death Valley, into a desert oasis, by planting 1,800 date palms. Today, they remain standing tall–truly an oasis in the Mojave Desert of Death Valley National Park. The palms began producing dates in the 1930’s. According to the flier, “Date Palms,” published by Death Valley National Park, most of these palms are of the Deglet Noor variety, introduced in the U.S. from Algeria, in 1900. For many, many years the palms were harvested, but are no longer. Locally grown dates may be purchased in Furnace Creek souvenir shops.
Conditions in Death Valley and Inyo County are nearly perfect for growing date palms and producing fruit. The palm tree requires a hot, desert climate, with prolonged summer heat, without much rain or humidity. Annually, on the average Death Valley receives about 2 to 2 1/2 inches of rain. That lack of rain may not meet the watering requirement for palm trees. However, the ever-flowing stream from Travertine Springs provides the water needs for the palms.
According to datepalmtree (http://datepalmtree.net) the Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), also known as the Medjoal palm, belongs to the Arecaceae family, genus Phoenix–one of the oldest trees in the world.
Many world cultures call the Palm tree “the tree of life,” because it has provided food, shelter, medicine, fuel and materials for weaving, for thousands of years.
The date fruit is harvested September through December. A mature palm yields 200-500 pounds of dates. Usually, there are 12-15 clusters of dates per tree. One cluster weighs nearly 20-pounds.
Only female Date palms can produce fruit. One male palm can pollinate up to fifty female palms. Hence, farmers usually plant one male palm tree per fifty females, per acre. The Deglet Noor is the leading date in America, according to Wikipedia.com. The U.S. date industry produces 60 million pounds of dates, annually. Iraq is the world’s largest date producer.
The most common method of reproduction of Date palms is by planting the suckers–or shoots–from parent trees, which grow from the base of the trees.
Southwest from Death Valley, near Tecopa, CA, is the China Ranch Date Farm. This is a working family farm. Date harvesting began this month. The farm is another oasis in the desert and a wonderful place to visit and purchase fresh dates and date products. The shop is open daily, 9-5, except Christmas. Or visit them at http://chinaranch.com. For directions to the farm, click the “directions” tab.
Other interesting sites to see in the area are the Old Spanish Trail, Tonopah & Tidewater rail bed, nearby abandoned mines and the Tecopa hot springs.
So, how about a date on your autumn visit to Death Valley? Check out Furnace Creek for a delicious date milkshake, too. Or, drive on over to China Ranch Date Farm to watch the harvesting and purchase some tasty date products.
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