“Day 0 to Prep for New Harvest”
Cleaning, Pruning & dethroning the palm tree.
January-Mid February
We have female palm trees who birth palm tree offshoots that give us fruit (flowers). We have the male palm trees that produce pollen. The flowers and the pollen meet, making dates. It’s similar to a human male and female. (Fun fact: you can not tell the sex of a date palm until they are 4-5 years old).
The first step we do in preparation for the year is ‘grooming’ the date palm. Male palm trees get what you can consider a “hair cut,’ meaning spiky palm fronds are removed. The spiky fronds grow around the heart of the tree, acting as a defense mechanism in the heat of the desert. The thorns are so sharp, growing up to five inches long, and can easily penetrate a car tire, let alone human flesh. I like to think of the thorns as a defense mechanism to protect its heart, much like ribs do for human beings.
The female palm trees go through the same thing: a trim, dethroning, and on top of that, their baby offshoots get a trim as well.
Once trimmed and dethroned, people physically sweep, collect and dispose of the refuse.