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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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The Padre Identity
Legacy of the Padres
No..not the team, although they are my second favorite club. This is about the padres who first came to our peninsula. And in this particular
topic...the DATE PALMS they brought with them. .
I got to thinking about them the other day when Manuel and I were doing the annual palm pruning in my yard. Whew...hate to 'date' myself, but I can
remember when these adult palms were about as high as my..well...it was a long time ago.
Some years back, it was a little bare when we first got started..
Living with palms in Baja and overseas, I have tended to take them for granted, wven while knowing the date palm is an important plant worldwide. The
date palm ('Nakhla' in arabic) is truly the "tree of life". The early missionary effort in Baja with these Arabian date palms has
paid off...kind of.
Dates are easy to store, nutritious, high in sugar content..almost 70%...and are also good sources of iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur,
copper and phosphorus, along with various vitamins, including thiamine, riboflavin, biotin, folic and ascorbic acid in case you didn't read the label.
Here is one of my palms with an ample load of dates...ready for harvest.
Its use also as a livestock feed supplement gives the tree much added value as anyone knows who has been to the Serinadad Pig Roast or ate the tasty
pork carnitas at Antonio y Lorena's.
Some secondary products generated from fruits are syrups, jams, ice creams, baby foods, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, and date bread!
..er..Ever drank date wine? Don't.
Small- and intermediate-scale industries like the date farms of Mulege and San Ignacio can therefore be supported over long term periods in both urban
and rural situations. 300 years worth in Mulege is impressive in itself.
As we all know, date palm trees do well in dry and semi-arid regions. The tremendous advantage of the tree is its resilience, its requirement for
limited inputs, its long term productivity and its multiple purpose attributes.
I only wish one could run for President in time to save us from our coming debacle.
Did you know that the propagation of date palms is by offshoots? ...axillary buds situated on the base of the trunk during the juvenile life of the
palm. We just pruned quite a few of the offshoots away from windows and walls the other day. These offshoots develop slowly and the numbers of these
are limited and are produced only within a certain period in the mother palm's life. The low number of transplantable offshoots available in the life
time of a selected tree varies from 10 to 30.
For those in the date palm business, no field-based methods are as yet available with which to increase the numbers of offshoots produced by each
tree. Offshoots have to be large enough to survive when transplanted in the field, a process of regeneration that can take up to 10 years. Something
an old amigo named Benicio taught me a long time ago. This is an offshoot female we managed to successfully move with a few others to a rear patio
area.
Ah..now we come to the talk of gender preference. The NOW organization will like this part. Sexual propagation is the most
convenient method by which to propagate date palm: seeds can be stored for years, they germinate easily and are available in large numbers. The most
obvious feature of these date palms is thier dioecious nature. Half of the progeny are generally male, which produce no fruits, and
large variations in phenotype can occur in progeny. Furthermore, no method is known at the present for sexing date palm at an early stage of tree
development. It is therefore not possible to eliminate non-productive males.. whoa..easy guys...we're talking male PALM TREES
here..whew!..I can see that got the attention of some couch potatos out there in Nomad Land.
The growth and maturation of seedlings is extremely slow. A date palm seedling may take 8 to 10 years or more before fruiting occurs...even in places
like San Francisco. 
(Damn, gonna get in trouble for that one, right Tony?...sigh)
Date palm breeding is hampered by the long generation cycles of trees. It usually takes more than 30 years to complete three backcrosses and to obtain
the first offshoots from an intervarietal cross.
Side benefits of having date palms: The various animals and birds making off with the ripe dates makes for great Audobon Club viewing and
photography.
Notice to PETA...please send me a Good Member placard...I just fattened up 100 pack rats.
Notice to the padres: Please come and collect your dates.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Just great stuff here Pompano! Thank you!!!
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Udo
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Superb explanation of the history of dates.
In the Coachella Valley as well as the Imperial Valley, they have inproved on the propagation of dates where a young palm is now fruiting in less than
4 years.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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longlegsinlapaz
Super Nomad
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VERY interesting! I'm curious...how long did it take you to put this post together? You are one dedicated man, Pompano!
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Crusoe
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Nice post....Thanx Pomp! ++C++
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Pompano
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Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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| Quote: | Originally posted by longlegsinlapaz
VERY interesting! I'm curious...how long did it take you to put this post together? You are one dedicated man, Pompano!
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longlegsinlapaz..
I get up VERY early and try not too make too much noise...sooooo.....
How much time for this one?...oh, about 40 years more or less.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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tjBill
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Location: Tijuana
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Nice photos.
I'm a big fan of dates. They made a nice high calorie snack. 
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Packoderm
Super Nomad
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Registered: 11-7-2002
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| Quote: | Originally posted by longlegsinlapaz
VERY interesting! I'm curious...how long did it take you to put this post together? You are one dedicated man, Pompano!
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I appreciate his efforts. Thanks Pompano.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64856
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Yes indeed! Good high energy snack... no sugar added!
There are date farms next to the Laguna Salada, east of Guadalupe Canyon. We have gone there with Hotschott and purchased some... YUMMY!
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Cypress
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Pompano, Thanks for the pictures and all the date palm information.
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bacquito
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Interesting report, Thanks. I retired from Imperial County as an Agricultural Inspector and have inspected Mejool Date trees and fruit for over 20
years. My impression is that the commercial production of Medjool Dates is the most labor intensive of all the agriculture crops in Imperial County.
It is true that they are best grown in dry areas-the tops require alot of heat to produce fruit but they also require alot of water for commercial
production.
I have often wondered if an inspection of trees in the San Ignacio or Mulage area would perhaps reveal an odd tree that produced a quality date better
than the Medjool. As you pointed out the mother tree produces shoots and if one could harvest the shoots from a tree producing a fruit greater than
the Medjool then it could lead to a better quality date to market.
bacquito
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toneart
Ultra Nomad
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Pompano,
You've had a very productive 40 years. Beautiful photos too.
Don't know how that "fruiting" anomaly occurrs in San Francisco since the date palms don't do very well there, even with the expanded marriage law.
Something I got out of your expounding is that you can't sex a young offshoot. 
That was disheartening for us old dudes, just in case one were to see an especially cute female date palm. Not that I am frond of them, but the
proliferation of plant progeny on your premises is puzzling.  
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Skipjack Joe
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I really like the bottom picture very much, Roger. Don't know if you meant it to be anything other than informational - but it has a very calm feeling
about it.
edit - fixed typo.
[Edited on 10-24-2008 by Skipjack Joe]
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Vince
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Roger- The photo of your place looks exactly like mine at the same time. We finished it sometime in 1971. Not surprising, we all used the same plan.
Vince
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DianaT
Select Nomad
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Registered: 12-17-2004
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Really enjoyed this! Thanks for taking the time to put it together.
Date bread---love it. Always buy it when we are in San Ignacio.
Diane
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Crusoe
Senior Nomad
Posts: 731
Registered: 10-14-2006
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Date Milkshakes Anyone?...They used to be very popular and probably still are in many so. cal. beach towns. ++C++
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Natalie Ann
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 8-22-2003
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Good story and pix, Pompano... thank you.
And btw, I'm kinda partial to that date-on-the-ground shot myself - nice color shades and textures.
I recently received by mail 2 large boxes of fresh dates from Blythe CA, courtesy of amigo bbbait. I'm planning to stuff some with cream cheese and
orange peel, make bread and candy from the rest.... if I don't first eat 'em all straight up. 
Fresh dates are ever so much more tasty than the dried out store-bought ones.
Nena
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
.....Oscar Wilde
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Ken Bondy
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Roger that was a fabulous post!! Loved the pictures and every word of your commentary. OK I'll bite -- what's your favorite baseball club?
++Ken++
carpe diem!
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Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
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Thanks, it's interesting to learn about these very useful plants. I have admired them but never really new anything about them, thanks for taking the
time to put this together.
Iflyfish
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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date data
Thanks all for your comments on my date.
bacquito, I know a few date harvesters in Mulege and will ask them about your thoughts. They may be aware of this already, but you
never know. Thanks for the good suggestion.
toneart wrote:
"Something I got out of your expounding is that you can't sex a young offshoot. That was disheartening for us old dudes, just in case one were to see
an especially cute female date palm. Not that I am frond of them, but the proliferation of plant progeny on your premises is puzzling."
Tony, I attribute it to good vibes, moonlight, and my charming ways. Of course Zulema does the watering and sings to them...and you know the benefit
of music. Shall I ask her if she needs any help?
Igor and Nena, I am very glad you liked that photo. As soon as I walked out there it caught my eye, too. Nice to find those small
gifts to your day.
Crusoe..I'll be looking today and tomorrow for one of those beach city date shakes....or..maybe a shaking date.
Vince..We are fortunate that 4 of our bay homes are from the same 'mother tree'. We should sign home 'donor cards'
Ken Bondy...The Minnesota Twins! I've been a loyal Twins fan for a long, long time. (after a brief high school fling with the
Cleveland Indians) We came close to a double-win in 1987 when the Minnesota Vikings and the Twins almost took the Super Bowl AND the World's Series.
Ah..that would have been justice well served.
diane...I am becoming somewhat of a baker and my date bread is getting better and better. If in the area, stop by and I'll cut you a
slice.
Baja Road dates.
While driving up the Baja Road yesterday we encountered a couple of date places:
This DATIL tienda has been at the base of this hill for as long as I can remember.
After fueling at Vizcaino's Pemex we bought a kilo of dates from a pickup next to the entrance. The dates are in the packages right behind this
vendor. I love these stops...
30 pesos per kilo package and some even survived all the way here to San Diego..
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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