Harvest season is underway at rural California date farm
Harvest season is officially in full swing at the China Ranch Date Farm, a Tecopa, California business that can be a great day trip from nearby Southern Nevada locations.
“We’re about 45 minutes from Pahrump and it’s a real oasis, where we grow dates,” Christy Horne told the Pahrump Valley Times.
Horne is the business manager at the China Ranch Date Farm. She’s worked there since 2019. The farm has been around since the early 1800s. She explained that because of recent weather conditions, a record date harvest is expected this year.
“Now it’s harvest, so it’s just beginning, but it’s been a really good season,” Horne enthused. “It was a mild summer, and we had no rain, and the trees are very happy this year.”
The business offers around 13 different date varieties from all over the world. With the current harvest starting, about seven date variations are available. The farm also curates four different date varieties that are exclusive to the ranch.
“Dates are like apples. There’s lots of varieties of apples — different colors and different textures, and dates are the same way,” Horne said.
Besides the dates themselves, the China Ranch Date Farm sells baked goods that feature the fruits grown on site. Bread, cookies, muffins, brownies and date bars are all sold at the ranch’s bakery. Special drinks are offered at the ranch, such as a date smoothie and a date shake.
“We’re most famous for the date shakes,” she added. “Those are made with Thrifty’s ice cream, and each one is still spun by hand.”
The China Ranch Date Farm has a gift shop that features rocks and goods created by local artisans.
The property also boasts a wide variety of hiking trails that are free to use. Some of the most popular trails are the 3.5-mile round-trip Amargosa River hike and the 4-mile round-trip Slot Canyon hike.
“Beside the date shakes and the date nut bread, the hiking is probably what we’re known for,” Horne said.
The China Ranch Date Farm is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. Summer hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. last from June 1 to Sept. 1.
Hiking is accessible before the shop opens, but the China Ranch Date Farm asks guests to return to their vehicles by sunset for safety reasons and because overnight camping is not allowed.
For more information about the China Ranch Date Farm, visit chinaranch.com.
The China Ranch Date Farm is located at #8 China Ranch Road in Tecopa, California.
Contact the China Ranch Date Farm at chinaranchstore@gmail.com or (760) 852-4415.
Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at edulay@pvtimes.com
