Welcome to Pato's Dream Date Gardens

Newsletter Archives

May 2008 Newsletter

_____________________________________________________________________

Dear Friends of Pato’s Dream Date Gardens,

Flowers on our female date palms are beginning to emerge as late February’s 80-degree weather begins warming their hearts. We will soon be dusting them with pollen from the male palm flowers to produce the 2008 crop. We plan to offer fresh (pre-ripe) khalal dates (hard and crunchy, like an apple) in August and September, and begin picking the fully ripe, softer varieties (medjool and halawi) in September and October. Please have orders for the winter holidays in our hands by December 15, 2008. Our final farmers’ market will be in Alhambra on 12/21/08, and we will resume shipping on 1/15/09.

Our halawi and tabarzal dates won 1^st Place Blue Ribbons at the National Date Festival in Indio again this year, and we have beautiful halawis available, @ $4/lb., through April. The larger sized fruit of the tabarzal have been sold, but we have medium sized fruit available, also @ $4/lb. We still have premium medjhools, but expect to run out in March (and not quite as soft as the early picking last fall). And we still have deglet noor, both softer and firmer. These are all listed at localharvest.org for on-line purchases, or direct from Pato’s. We also have limited supplies of softer “honey”, and medium soft dayri, and mariana dates available direct from Pato’s, @ $4/lb (in 2-lb. boxes). Note increased shipping costs, $11 for the first box (2 lbs.) and for additional boxes to the same address, add $4/box.

(While most of our crop is stored or goes through the freezer, we still have halawis, deglets, and dayri, which have not been frozen. Contact us by e-mail if you would prefer such fruit).

Our 5-acre farm looks like it went through open-hear surgery this winter, with the removal of 16 older palms, heading off for replanting and a new life (retirement?) in Florida. They are honored for their beauty, but will not produce fruit in the milder and humid Florida climate. But the 100 new palms we planted in 2006 are doing well, and a dozen “adolescent” palms should begin producing for this coming season.

Get your orders in soon for the spring holidays and year-round snacking and baking.

Best wishes, for 2008.

August 2007 Newsletter

_____________________________________________________________________

Dear Friends of Pato's Dream,

Our 2007 crop of organically grown dates is nearing harvest on our 5-acre farm in the Coachella Valley of California, where temperatures are topping 100 almost every day since June. We will be offering Khalal dates (still hard and crunchy, like an apple) in August and September, and will be picking the new crop of fully ripened dates (including Medjhools, Halawis, and Deglet Noor) starting in late September and October. (For availability of other varieties, e-mail us) For year-end delivery, we will ship orders received on or before December 17, 2007, and will resume shipments January 2, 2008.

Our Medjhools and Halawis from the 2006 crop won 1st prize blue ribbons at the Indio (Riverside County) Date Festival in February. We are featured in a new book put out by the University of California. Dates: Imported and American Varieties of Dates in the United States, by Professors Donald R. Hodel and Dennis V. Johnson (Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 3498). Pictures of our tabarzal, Black Sphinx, and Mariana palms are included, with text.

We continue to offer our dates at the Alhambra Farmers Market on most Sundays, and on line at www.localharvrest.org web site (or, with a check, direct from Pato's).

****************************************************************************************************************************

Khalal Dates, 2007 harvest

Pato's Dream Date Gardens is offering organically grown fresh picked dates in the Khalal stage, for mail order purchase, for 8 weeks only, August 1 - September 30, 2007. We will also be bringing them in to the Alhambra Farmers' Market (Monterrey and Bay State, Sundays, 8:30AM - 12:00PM, beginning August 5.

Dates in the Khalal stage are still crunchy, like an apple. The color is usually yellow (or magenta - purple in the case of Black Sphinx). As they continue to ripen after picking, they begin to turn amber and brown (or black), turning very soft in the rutab stage. (If left on the palm, they continue to ripen from the rutab to their final stage, tamar, and then begin to loose moisture, becoming firm enough to ship, and then chewy). The flavor of dates in the khalal stage can be on the tart side, pucker your mouth like a persimmon, unless picked very close to ripening, and then a very special flavor. (I wait for a brown spot to appear to tell me they are ready, but many palates prefer them earlier than that). Put them in the fridge to hold them in the khalal stage a little longer, or hang them out in kitchen, porch, or sukkah to continue ripening. (Keep dry and airy to avoid mold).

Best wishes from Doug Adair, Pato's Dream Date Gardens, Thermal California

March 2007 Newsletter

______________________________________________________________________

Dear Friends of Pato's Dream,

Medjhool and Halawi dates from Pato's Dream Date Gardens again won the first prize blue ribbons at the Indio Date Festival this year. The competition included Oasis Date Gardens, which won second prize for their medjhools; and Shields Date Gardens, witch won second on their halawis. We still have beautiful quality medjhools available for sale (though the halawis are about sold out and what is left is smaller and on the dry side).

The flowers are coming out for the 2007 crop, and we will be pollinating each female flower by hand with pollen from the male flowers, to produce this delicious fruit. We will be offering Khalal dates (still hard and crunchy, like an apple) in August and September, and will be picking the new crop of fully ripened dates starting in late September and October. For year-end delivery, we will ship orders received on or before 12/17, and will resume shipments January 2, 2008.

This year we are adding a composted organic fertilizer to our soil (visit Perfect Blend Fertilizers for detailed information). Included are beneficial fungi (microrhiz...) that add bio-diversity to the soil. We are also establishing cover crops of Lana vetch and Cowpeas, whose roots add natural nitrogen to the soil.

We continue to offer our dates at the Alhambra Farmers Markets on most Sundays, and on line at www.localharvrest.org web site (or, with a check, direct from Pato's). We anticipate running out by May, so order soon for your prize-winning dates.

Best wishes from Doug and Debbie Adair and family, and now including our first grandchild, Alexandria Katharine Price, born 3/19/07.

2006 Newsletter

_____________________________________________________________________

We began picking our 2006 harvest on September 22, including medjhools and halawis, and plan to pick the first deglet noor in early November. The Barhis and other khalal dates are all over until next August.

Our new web page is up and running at patosdategardens.com (and apologies to those who visited the old page when it was down) -- please correct your address book. You can order our dates on-line at: localharvest.org

We have reorganized production with a crew working under a contract with the United Farm Workers of America; and help in management from HMS Agricultural, which has had a union contract since 1976. This spring we sold over two dozen taller palms that Doug had planted 20 years ago; and planted 88 new palms in the "back two" acres of our 5-acre farm.

Our cut-off for year end mail order will be Dec. 11, 2006; and the last farmers' market will be in Alhambra on Dec. 17.

Best wishes from Doug Adair, Pato's Dream Date Gardens, Thermal, Calif

January 2003 Newsletter

Greetings and best wishes for 2003 from the date gardens of the Adairs and Paniaguas in Thermal, California. We have a beautiful crop of dates available, and in fact are still picking (as of January) our young deglet noor palms. All varieties are available, probably through the spring. Many thanks to those of you who placed orders earlier in the fall, and also for those who deferred ordering until now. We were so busy over the last three months that we didn’t want to try to handle any more business, and for that reason, just never sent out a regular mail announcement. But we’re pretty good about replying to e-mail, so do include your e-mail address (if you have one) with your orders and communications.

Note that shipping and handling prices have been increased. Special thanks to those of you who send address labels, it helps me out and avoids mistakes. And we’re pretty good at including cards and notes you send for gift boxes, but can’t write extra notes (ie. “Love from Uncle Fred”) on your behalf.

The farms and families thrive. Doug’s mom, Virginia Adair, is frail, but her memory is sharp on events of 80 years ago! Carol is back from a job teaching English in Korea (after graduating from Scripps College in May), and Rosa is working in a hearing aid distributor in nearby Palm Desert (she graduated from Redlands University last year). The Paniaguas have one daughter (Susanna) still at home, due to graduate from highschool in June. And Daniel Paniagua is our “palmero”, climbing the 48’ ladder to harvest from our tallest palms, and, with Doug, picking and sorting the crop. We continue to transplant palm shoots from the Adair property to the Paniagua property (“Conejo Dates”), and shared honors and recognition in VOGUE magazine for the second year in a row -- their December, 2002 issue, p. 305 (“A Feast by Fed Ex” by their food guru, Jeffrey Steingarten) praises us as follows:

“Next we completed our search for delectable fruit. Freshly picked dates are incredibly sweet, juicy, and succulent little treasures -- nothing like the tough and wrinkled specimens most people think of as dates. Barhi dates are nearly skinless and amazingly liquid and sugary. Medjools are larger, meatier, and full of flavor, but extremely succulent nonetheless. Of the dates we’be been munching these past few weeks, Pato’s Dream Date Gardens’ barhis, grown by Pato’s neighbor, Conejo Dates, have been spectacular, and Pato’s own medjhools are excellent, both at $10 for two pounds...”

(To tell the truth, we like the chewy dates too -- take the time to let the flavor develope in your mouth, and the sweetness, though not as overpowering as the barhis and medjhools, comes through as subtle and rich in its own right)...

And Newsweek (12/23/02, p. 10) has a nice report on "Rent Mother Nature," a program that features family farmers in different crops, and features our dates in their catalogue...

We continue to sell in Alhambra Farmers’ Market on Sundays, and our web page (Patosdategardens.com) offers info and updates. Sorry, no credit card or phone orders or billing... orders are shipped out after we receive the payment. We do hope you’ll take a little extra time to order our dates, just as we take extra time to grow and pack them for you. We hope you will include our dates in your winter and spring diets and during the year to come...

All best wishes from Doug Adair and the Adair and Paniagua families...


Home Fresh Dates By Mail Farmer's Market Varieties & Flavors Natural Way To Grow Our Favorite Way to Eat Dates Recipes Awards & Honors Links Newsletter
	E-mail Pato at PATOZDRM@aol.com Please order our dates by mail or online Newsletter Archives May 2008 Newsletter _____________________________________________________________________ Dear Friends of Pato’s Dream Date Gardens, Flowers on our female date palms are beginning to emerge as late February’s 80-degree weather begins warming their hearts. We will soon be dusting them with pollen from the male palm flowers to produce the 2008 crop. We plan to offer fresh (pre-ripe) khalal dates (hard and crunchy, like an apple) in August and September, and begin picking the fully ripe, softer varieties (medjool and halawi) in September and October. Please have orders for the winter holidays in our hands by December 15, 2008. Our final farmers’ market will be in Alhambra on 12/21/08, and we will resume shipping on 1/15/09. Our halawi and tabarzal dates won 1^st Place Blue Ribbons at the National Date Festival in Indio again this year, and we have beautiful halawis available, @ $4/lb., through April. The larger sized fruit of the tabarzal have been sold, but we have medium sized fruit available, also @ $4/lb. We still have premium medjhools, but expect to run out in March (and not quite as soft as the early picking last fall). And we still have deglet noor, both softer and firmer. These are all listed at localharvest.org for on-line purchases, or direct from Pato’s. We also have limited supplies of softer “honey”, and medium soft dayri, and mariana dates available direct from Pato’s, @ $4/lb (in 2-lb. boxes). Note increased shipping costs, $11 for the first box (2 lbs.) and for additional boxes to the same address, add $4/box. (While most of our crop is stored or goes through the freezer, we still have halawis, deglets, and dayri, which have not been frozen. Contact us by e-mail if you would prefer such fruit). Our 5-acre farm looks like it went through open-hear surgery this winter, with the removal of 16 older palms, heading off for replanting and a new life (retirement?) in Florida. They are honored for their beauty, but will not produce fruit in the milder and humid Florida climate. But the 100 new palms we planted in 2006 are doing well, and a dozen “adolescent” palms should begin producing for this coming season. Get your orders in soon for the spring holidays and year-round snacking and baking. Best wishes, for 2008. August 2007 Newsletter _____________________________________________________________________ Dear Friends of Pato's Dream, Our 2007 crop of organically grown dates is nearing harvest on our 5-acre farm in the Coachella Valley of California, where temperatures are topping 100 almost every day since June. We will be offering Khalal dates (still hard and crunchy, like an apple) in August and September, and will be picking the new crop of fully ripened dates (including Medjhools, Halawis, and Deglet Noor) starting in late September and October. (For availability of other varieties, e-mail us) For year-end delivery, we will ship orders received on or before December 17, 2007, and will resume shipments January 2, 2008. Our Medjhools and Halawis from the 2006 crop won 1st prize blue ribbons at the Indio (Riverside County) Date Festival in February. We are featured in a new book put out by the University of California. Dates: Imported and American Varieties of Dates in the United States, by Professors Donald R. Hodel and Dennis V. Johnson (Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 3498). Pictures of our tabarzal, Black Sphinx, and Mariana palms are included, with text. We continue to offer our dates at the Alhambra Farmers Market on most Sundays, and on line at www.localharvrest.org web site (or, with a check, direct from Pato's). ************************************************************************************************************************** Khalal Dates, 2007 harvest Pato's Dream Date Gardens is offering organically grown fresh picked dates in the Khalal stage, for mail order purchase, for 8 weeks only, August 1 - September 30, 2007. We will also be bringing them in to the Alhambra Farmers' Market (Monterrey and Bay State, Sundays, 8:30AM - 12:00PM, beginning August 5. Dates in the Khalal stage are still crunchy, like an apple. The color is usually yellow (or magenta - purple in the case of Black Sphinx). As they continue to ripen after picking, they begin to turn amber and brown (or black), turning very soft in the rutab stage. (If left on the palm, they continue to ripen from the rutab to their final stage, tamar, and then begin to loose moisture, becoming firm enough to ship, and then chewy). The flavor of dates in the khalal stage can be on the tart side, pucker your mouth like a persimmon, unless picked very close to ripening, and then a very special flavor. (I wait for a brown spot to appear to tell me they are ready, but many palates prefer them earlier than that). Put them in the fridge to hold them in the khalal stage a little longer, or hang them out in kitchen, porch, or sukkah to continue ripening. (Keep dry and airy to avoid mold). Best wishes from Doug Adair, Pato's Dream Date Gardens, Thermal California March 2007 Newsletter ______________________________________________________________________ Dear Friends of Pato's Dream, Medjhool and Halawi dates from Pato's Dream Date Gardens again won the first prize blue ribbons at the Indio Date Festival this year. The competition included Oasis Date Gardens, which won second prize for their medjhools; and Shields Date Gardens, witch won second on their halawis. We still have beautiful quality medjhools available for sale (though the halawis are about sold out and what is left is smaller and on the dry side). The flowers are coming out for the 2007 crop, and we will be pollinating each female flower by hand with pollen from the male flowers, to produce this delicious fruit. We will be offering Khalal dates (still hard and crunchy, like an apple) in August and September, and will be picking the new crop of fully ripened dates starting in late September and October. For year-end delivery, we will ship orders received on or before 12/17, and will resume shipments January 2, 2008. This year we are adding a composted organic fertilizer to our soil (visit Perfect Blend Fertilizers for detailed information). Included are beneficial fungi (microrhiz...) that add bio-diversity to the soil. We are also establishing cover crops of Lana vetch and Cowpeas, whose roots add natural nitrogen to the soil. We continue to offer our dates at the Alhambra Farmers Markets on most Sundays, and on line at www.localharvrest.org web site (or, with a check, direct from Pato's). We anticipate running out by May, so order soon for your prize-winning dates. Best wishes from Doug and Debbie Adair and family, and now including our first grandchild, Alexandria Katharine Price, born 3/19/07. 2006 Newsletter _____________________________________________________________________ We began picking our 2006 harvest on September 22, including medjhools and halawis, and plan to pick the first deglet noor in early November. The Barhis and other khalal dates are all over until next August. Our new web page is up and running at patosdategardens.com (and apologies to those who visited the old page when it was down) -- please correct your address book. You can order our dates on-line at: localharvest.org We have reorganized production with a crew working under a contract with the United Farm Workers of America; and help in management from HMS Agricultural, which has had a union contract since 1976. This spring we sold over two dozen taller palms that Doug had planted 20 years ago; and planted 88 new palms in the "back two" acres of our 5-acre farm. Our cut-off for year end mail order will be Dec. 11, 2006; and the last farmers' market will be in Alhambra on Dec. 17. Best wishes from Doug Adair, Pato's Dream Date Gardens, Thermal, Calif January 2003 Newsletter** Greetings and best wishes for 2003 from the date gardens of the Adairs and Paniaguas in Thermal, California. We have a beautiful crop of dates available, and in fact are still picking (as of January) our young deglet noor palms. All varieties are available, probably through the spring. Many thanks to those of you who placed orders earlier in the fall, and also for those who deferred ordering until now. We were so busy over the last three months that we didn’t want to try to handle any more business, and for that reason, just never sent out a regular mail announcement. But we’re pretty good about replying to e-mail, so do include your e-mail address (if you have one) with your orders and communications. Note that shipping and handling prices have been increased. Special thanks to those of you who send address labels, it helps me out and avoids mistakes. And we’re pretty good at including cards and notes you send for gift boxes, but can’t write extra notes (ie. “Love from Uncle Fred”) on your behalf. The farms and families thrive. Doug’s mom, Virginia Adair, is frail, but her memory is sharp on events of 80 years ago! Carol is back from a job teaching English in Korea (after graduating from Scripps College in May), and Rosa is working in a hearing aid distributor in nearby Palm Desert (she graduated from Redlands University last year). The Paniaguas have one daughter (Susanna) still at home, due to graduate from highschool in June. And Daniel Paniagua is our “palmero”, climbing the 48’ ladder to harvest from our tallest palms, and, with Doug, picking and sorting the crop. We continue to transplant palm shoots from the Adair property to the Paniagua property (“Conejo Dates”), and shared honors and recognition in VOGUE magazine for the second year in a row -- their December, 2002 issue, p. 305 (“A Feast by Fed Ex” by their food guru, Jeffrey Steingarten) praises us as follows: “Next we completed our search for delectable fruit. Freshly picked dates are incredibly sweet, juicy, and succulent little treasures -- nothing like the tough and wrinkled specimens most people think of as dates. Barhi dates are nearly skinless and amazingly liquid and sugary. Medjools are larger, meatier, and full of flavor, but extremely succulent nonetheless. Of the dates we’be been munching these past few weeks, Pato’s Dream Date Gardens’ barhis, grown by Pato’s neighbor, Conejo Dates, have been spectacular, and Pato’s own medjhools are excellent, both at $10 for two pounds...” (To tell the truth, we like the chewy dates too -- take the time to let the flavor develope in your mouth, and the sweetness, though not as overpowering as the barhis and medjhools, comes through as subtle and rich in its own right)... And Newsweek (12/23/02, p. 10) has a nice report on "Rent Mother Nature," a program that features family farmers in different crops, and features our dates in their catalogue... We continue to sell in Alhambra Farmers’ Market on Sundays, and our web page (Patosdategardens.com) offers info and updates. Sorry, no credit card or phone orders or billing... orders are shipped out after we receive the payment. We do hope you’ll take a little extra time to order our dates, just as we take extra time to grow and pack them for you. We hope you will include our dates in your winter and spring diets and during the year to come... All best wishes from Doug Adair and the Adair and Paniagua families... Email Pato at PATOZDRM@aol.com