We heard the Greater Palm Springs and Coachella area in sourthern California are famous for their dates. So when we were near the area, we were looking for a date farm to buy some dates. But many farms had closed. But the owner of "Fresh Dates by Anderson" is very nice. When we called to inquire about the dates and told her that we still had half an hour to drive to her farm, she said she would wait for us. We got to the farm and she showed us around and brought out different kinds of dates for us to try. She also showed us the farm was preparing to hand-pollinate the date palms since they are dioecious. The dates are delicious and it was fun to see the farm. From "Visit Greater Palm Springs" website, I learned that dates aren’t native to this area. In fact, the crops were imported from the Middle East and North Africa in the late 1800s as a USDA experiment. Agriculturists realized that the climate here is similar to those desert countries where date trees flourish. Date trees can only produce fruit in dry, arid conditions and need plenty of water at their roots to withstand the intense heat. At the turn of the 20th century, the area was a Garden of Eden as many different experimental crops were introduced here and farming became an important industry here.
我們聽說美國南加州大棕櫚泉(Greater Palm Springs)和科切拉(Coachella)地區以棗聞名，因此當我們在那地區附近時，我們想找一個種棗的農場來買一些棗。但許多農場那天已經關門，但“Fresh Dates by Anderson”的老闆很好，我們打電話尋問時，告訴她我們還有半個小時才能開車到她的農場，她說她願意等我們。我們到了農場，她讓我們四處參觀，並拿出不同種的棗子讓我們試吃。她也告訴我們農場正準備對海棗樹進行人工授粉，因為它們是雌雄異株的。棗子很好吃，參觀農場也很有趣。從“大棕櫚泉旅遊”網站上，我了解到海棗的原產地不是在這裏。這些農作物是在1800年代後期從中東和北非進口作為美國農業部的試驗品。農學家意識到這裡的氣候與那些棗樹盛行的沙漠國家相似。棗樹只能在乾燥、乾旱的環境下結出果實，根部需要充足的水分才能承受酷熱。在 20世紀之交，這裏成為伊甸園，引進了許多不同的試驗作物，農業成為這裡的重要產業。
Notes 筆記
- Date palm is cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, and is naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.
- Date trees reach up to 30 metres (100 feet) in height, growing singly or forming a clump with several stems from a single root system. Slow-growing, they can reach over 100 years of age when maintained properly. The leaves are 4–6 m (13–20 ft) long, with spines on the petiole, and pinnate, with about 150 leaflets.
- The date palm is dioecious, having separate male and female plants. They can be easily grown from seed, but only 50% of seedlings will be female and hence fruit-bearing, and dates from seedling plants are often smaller and of poorer quality. Most commercial plantations thus use cuttings of heavily cropping cultivars. Dates are naturally wind-pollinated, but in traditional oasis horticulture and modern commercial orchards they are entirely hand-pollinated. Natural pollination occurs with about an equal number of male and female plants. With assistance, one male can pollinate up to 100 females. Since the males are of value only as pollinators, they are usually pruned in favor of fruit-producing female plants. Manual pollination is done by skilled labourers on ladders, or by use of a wind machine.
- Dates are a traditional crop throughout the Middle East and north Africa. Dates (especially Medjool and Deglet Nour) are also cultivated in the southwestern United States, and in Sonora and Baja California in Mexico.
- Dates have been cultivated in the Middle East and the Indus Valley for thousands of years, and there is archaeological evidence of date cultivation in Mehrgarh, a Neolithic civilization in western Pakistan, around 7000 BCE and in eastern Arabia between 5530 and 5320 calBC. Dates have been cultivated since ancient times from Mesopotamia to prehistoric Egypt. The ancient Egyptians used the fruits to make date wine and ate dates at harvest.
- All parts of the date palm yield products of economic value. Its trunk furnishes timber; the midribs of the leaves supply material for crates and furniture; the leaflets, for basketry; the leaf bases, for fuel; the fruit stalks, for rope and fuel; the fibre, for cordage and packing material; and the seeds are sometimes ground and used as stock feed. Syrup, alcohol, vinegar, and a strong liquor are derived from the fruit. The sap is also used as a beverage, either fresh or fermented, but, because the method of extraction seriously injures the palm, only those trees that produce little fruit are used for sap. When a palm is cut down, the tender terminal bud is eaten as a salad.
- Dates were introduced into California by the Spaniards by 1769, existing by then around Mission San Diego de Alcalá, and were introduced to Mexico as early as the 16th century.
- Dates are mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible and 20 times in the Quran. Date palms holds great significance in Abrahamic religions. The tree was heavily cultivated as a food source in ancient Israel where Judaism and subsequently Christianity developed. Date palm leaves are used for Palm Sunday in the Christian religion.
- 海棗(又名椰棗、波斯棗、伊拉克蜜棗、無漏子、番棗、海棕、仙棗)因其可食用的甜果(稱為棗)而被種植。它廣泛種植在北非、中東和南亞，並移植到全球許多熱帶和亞熱帶地區。
- 棗樹高達30公尺(100英尺)，單獨生長或形成一叢，由來自單一根系的多根莖組成。生長緩慢，如果保養得當，它們可以活到100歲以上。葉子長4-6公尺(13-20英尺)，葉柄上有刺，羽狀複葉，約有150個小葉。
- 海棗是雌雄異體的，有單獨的雄株和雌株。它們可以很容易地從種子中長出來，但只有 50% 的幼苗是雌性的會結出果實，而且幼苗植物的棗通常較小，質量較差。因此大多數商業種植園使用作物栽培品種的插條。海棗是自然風媒授粉的，但在傳統綠洲園藝和現代商業果園中，棗完全是人工授粉。自然授粉發生在大約相同數量的雄性和雌性植物上。在協助下，一棵雄性可以授粉給雌性多達100棵。由於雄性僅作為傳粉者，因此常對它們進行修剪以利於產生果實的雌性植物。人工授粉由熟練的工人在梯子上或使用風力機完成。
- 棗是整個中東和北非的傳統作物。美國西南部以及墨西哥的索諾拉和下加利福尼亞州也種植棗（尤其是帝王椰棗Medjool和Deglet Nour椰棗）。
- 中東和印度河流域種植椰棗已有數千年的歷史，在巴基斯坦西部的新石器時代文明梅赫爾格爾(Mehrgarh)，公元前7000年左右和阿拉伯東部的公元前5530至5320都有椰棗種植的考古證據。從美索不達米亞到史前埃及，自古以來就有椰棗種植。古埃及人用這些果實釀造棗酒，並在收成時吃棗。
- 海棗的所有部分都可產出具有經濟價值的產品。它的樹幹可作木材；葉子的中脈可作為板條箱和家具的材料；嫩葉用於編織籃筐；葉基用作燃料；果梗用作繩索和燃料；纖維用於繩索和包裝材料；有時將種子磨碎用作飼料。果實可作成糖漿、酒精、醋和烈性酒。植物運送養分的汁液也被用作新鮮的或發酵的飲料，但是由於提取時會嚴重傷害樹，所以只有那些果實很少的樹才被用來提取汁液。當棕櫚被砍下時，嫩的頂芽可以作為沙拉食用。
- 海棗於1769年由西班牙人引入加州，當時在聖地亞哥德阿爾卡拉教會附近存在，並早在16世紀就被引入墨西哥。
- 棗在聖經中被提及超過50次，在古蘭經中被提及20次。海棗樹在亞伯拉罕宗教中具有重要意義。在猶太教和後來的基督教發展的古代以色列，這種樹被大量種植作為食物來源。海棗葉在基督教中用於棕枝主日。
References 參考資料
Plants Posts 植物的帖子