Did you know that date palms grow in Arizona? Think of all those expensive dates that you could be harvesting directly from the tree instead of buying at the grocery store! If you look up – way up – at the right time of year, the fronds will be laden with think, juicy, sugary dates.
So when I looked up, my first thought was how to get them down. They fall when they’re ripe, but unless you see them fall, there’s no way to know how long they’ve been on the ground. And since they’re so sugary, you might not know what critters haven’t gotten to them before you.
So I Googled “how to harvest dates” and low and behold, there’s a climbing technique where you strap a wide belt (some people seem to call it a harness, but let’s be honest, it’s more of a strap) around you and the tree, and you move it on up the palm as you go. It’s very low tech. And dangerous.
Imagine falling from the top with no protection. That’s enough to make my rock climbing heart break faster than a crushed Medjool. But this guy seems to have no problem:
Not that the dates above my head were Medjools – those prized, dense, chewy dates that usually seem to come from California (at least the ones I’ve bought in North America). According to the Phoenix New Times, Arizona used to be a big producer of dates, thanks to their import by Spanish missionaries. Then in the 1900s the US government started importing dates from around the world (well, desert climates like Morocco anyway). And now the state is a pretty big producer again, though I’ve never seen Arizona dates sold in Canada (my go-to place for dates, btw, is L’Olivier in Jean-Talon Market, and they usually have excellent quality), and even the organic dates at the Rillito Farmer’s Market in Tucson come from California.
Back to harvesting. I was not about to climb up there with a makeshift belt. My feet are not ready for that. And I didn’t have easy access to an electric lift…
…so I waited for some wind and then went outdoors the next day. My neighbour had said he just picks them off the ground and they’re fine. Perfectly safe. Unconvinced, my plan was to boil them briefly to kill any parasites or bugs.
I spent a good 20 minutes looking for ones that didn’t have little holes in them from tiny insects. Or so I thought… because when I got back to my place, I opened one and saw all these little seeds inside, except dates don’t have seeds like that. Instead, they were the brown-black eggs of these tiny white things (mites? maggots) I’d seen in dried dates at my local Tunisian grocery shop in Montreal. It seems that if the fruit isn’t sprayed and isn’t protected from critters, it’s pretty likely they’ll be something in there. That’s not to say that these things will necessarily hurt you (you can read more about it), but there’s definitely no harm in boiling the fruit and just making purée, and leaving the on-tree harvesting to others. Maybe the white things can get into the palms way up high, but it’s less likely.
For now, dates will be elusive, majestic trees that are just so, so far above me.
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