Medjool Dates California

Final details decided on Embarcadero design

The selection Thursday of a "noninvasive" palm type to grace the downtown waterfront completed the final design detail before construction can proceed on the $29.6 million first-phase makeover of San Diego’s proverbial “front door.”

The three-member joint-powers authority board, representing the city, port and redevelopment agency, bowed to California Coastal Commission wishes and chose the “noninvasive” medjool date palm rather than preferred Canary Island date palm and Mexican fan palm to plant along Harbor Drive and the west end of Broadway.

Jacarandas, the city's official tree, were previously chosen to be planted in two groves at the foot of Broadway and are permitted species.

The landscape plan is by the local firm of Spurlock Poirier and partner Marty Poirier described the palm choices available. He said the firm also considered California sycamores, Lombardy poplars and Torrey pines but recommended the medjool instead.

Planners had argued that the Canary and Mexican palms were traditionally used in San Diego landscapes, and in an urban setting, surrounded by asphalt and concrete, the trees' seeds would not threaten any other species. But the coastal commission insisted in its approval of the Embarcadero plan in April that noninvasive plants be used, regardless of the local conditions.

“This is a battle we probably don’t want to fight,” said Port Chairman Scott Peters, who was recently appointed an alternate to the coastal commission.

Laurie Black, representing the Centre City Development Corp. board which oversees downtown redevelopment, also conceded the tree change But she expressed greater concern for the landscaping that will go on the Navy Broadway Complex site at the southeast corner of Harbor and Broadway.

“We have to get in a conversation and get going with the Navy on that corner,” Black said.

The Navy has leased the property to developer Douglas F. Manchester for a billion-dollar hotel and office development, but it’s not yet clear when the project will get sufficient financing to move forward and how the planned open space park at the Broadway-Harbor corner will be paid for.

San Diego City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who chairs the joint-powers board, called the palm choice “great” and said it looks “fabulous” along the Harbor Drive frontage of the San Diego Convention Center.

The board also approved twisted-shaped light poles on Broadway that will coated in an anodized pale green finish that turns silver in full sun.

First Date- Power Fruits – Medjool Dates the Kings of Dates

Medjool Dates The King of Dates

Dates are considered the oldest cultivated fruit. There are Fossils that show date palm trees thriving 50 million years ago. The date palm tree fruit was eaten as far back as 5,000-6,000 B.C., and they have been cultivated for about 6,000 years in the Middle East. http://www.medjool-dates.com/medjool_dates_history.php

The Biblical reference to the tree of life may very well have meant the date palm tree. So the tree life may not be a tree at all, but a date palm. In ancient cultures date palm was called the tree of life and all parts of the date palm tree were used including the trunk, the leaves, and the fruit. In ancient cultures and to a lesser extent today, dates were a staple food. from the trunk to the leaves. Dates are rich in carbohydrates and potassium and can be stored for several years. There are hundreds of varieties of dates. About 12 varieties are grown in the United States. Dates are classified into various categories including soft, semidry or dry. There are soft dates such as the Medjool, Khadrawy, Halawy and Barhi which have a sweet, creamy flesh. Semidry dates such as Deglet Noor and Zahidi have less moisture, sweetness and chewiness. There are more dry dates such as the Thoory, which is called the bread date, and it has a hard, dry skin and very little moisture.

Among the peoples of the middle east dates are still used as a staple food and there are millions of trees in the middle east. It is still a very important food and is widely grown in all the middle eastern countries, especially in the Euphrates Tigris Delta. About 95 percent of dates are grown in California’s Coachella Valley otherwise know as Palm Springs. Dates grow well in this area because of they dry heat.

Dates were first brought to California by the Spanish missionaries and around 1927, the Medjool date arrived. The reason was that disease was destroying Morocco’s Medjool crop and it was an attempt to save the date. Eleven offshoots were brought back to California from Morocco and nine of the eleven survived and have become the source of the millions of Medjool dates grown today throughout California and a parts of Arizona.

The Medjool date is considered the king of dates. The Medjool was once reserved for Moroccan royalty and their guests, they were a precious confection and to some extent remain so. Medjools are more expensive than other varieties because their cultivation is more complex and labor intensive. Date palms pollinate naturally by produce few dates and growers therefore hand-pollinate each tree to ensure adequate yield. Green dates are removed to encourage larger dates to grown and then they are covered to protect them from protect them from birds, insects and occasional rain. Dates are then hand picked one at a time as they ripen.

Report of the Date grower's institute held in Coachella Valley, California

Imported and American varieties of dates (Phoenix dactylifera) in the United States

The Jewish homemaker

California farmer

Bulletin / California. Dept. of Agriculture