In the 1920s, a chance sport (a sport is a genetic mutation naturally occuring in date palms) sprouted in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix, Arizona, and thus birthed a date variety that would win over our hearts for decades to come. The Black Sphinx Date was conceived.
For date lovers, there are no other varieties quite like these thin skinned, creamy, and delicate caramelly palm fruits. Dates that are, perhaps, the most labor intensive fruit to propogate and then safely harvest, yet so worthy of whatever effort they may require. A fruit that is so precious and delicious that it has been marked in the Slow Food Ark of Taste as a varietal worth remembering and saving.
I discovered Black Sphinx Dates from Arizona more than 20 years ago, via a San Francisco Bay Area organic produce distributor. They were under the label “Arizona Date Garden” and were being hand pollinated, thinned, bagged and harvested by Harry Polk. Their soft, creamy flavor and texture were, and remain to this day, amazing.
Harry was climbing trees to perform all the necessary work to propagate a healthy crop of fruit each year. Each journey into the treetop is more than 40 feet up, and immensely dangerous. Tending to these precious trees looks something like this:
Climb #1: Source pollen from male trees.
Climb #2: Pollinate the female fronds, after thinning them, to produce nicely sized fruit with each date.
Climb #3: As the fronds begin to bear fruit, they must be bagged for protection
Climbs #4 and beyond: Fruit must be harvested as it’s ripened which may not all happen at once on one tree. Multiple visits to the top of the palm are required to assure the best conditioned and full-flavored fruit for our blissful enjoyment.
In 2006, unfortunately, Harry fell from a date palm climb that injured him badly and necessitated his retirement from growing, harvesting, and packing the luscious Black Sphinx. Although we never had an opportunity to meet in person. His calls were always interesting, and his passion for the palm trees and their delicious fruit was immensely inspiring.
Upon Harry’s disappearance, I sought a new and direct connection to the source of Black Sphinx dates. I was fortunate to have a friend in Scottsdale who, while visiting a Phoenix area farmers market, met a woman who grew up in Arcadia –once a date farm, and the very same neighborhood where Harry had been caring for and harvesting his dates. She singlehandedly saved the trees from the power company’s desire to cut them all down; and provided us with an abundance of fruit for many years. Not only was she caring for the Black Sphinx palm trees, but she was also growing Halawi and a few other exceptional date varieties not often found outside North Africa and the Middle East.
These past few years, the Black Sphinx date palms of Arcadia have been well cared for by Rejean, a Canadian Arizona transplant and former rock and roll radio DJ in Phoenix. Rejean is caring for the palm trees, beginning each spring, utilizing a trailer-boom truck, to safely pollinate, bag and harvest each date palm, with care and consideration for every aspect of the process to allow us the privilege of purchasing these delectable morsels of flavorful pleasure.
Due to the thin skin of these delicate dates, they don’t travel well and are therefore not distributed very far from the groves where they’re grown. For over a decade, I have personally driven to Phoenix, Arizona to load a truck with hundreds of pounds of these delicious fruits that we only get to enjoy from a single yearly harvest. We invite you to join us in savoring this delicious treat from the Earth, until next year!
Always Eat Well!
-Steven Rosenberg
