John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com/ goes on a field trip to Flying Disc Ranch, a Date farm who grows dates using no-till, permaculture, biodynamic and organic growing practices. You will see from pit to date on how this palm tree grows and produces delicious fruit. In this episode, you will learn how date palm trees are grown, and all the stages of date palm growth and some of the farming practices that must be done to ensure high-quality date fruit are being grown. First, John will compare standard agriculture practices that ruin the fertility of the soil, and share with you a better way: a no-till permaculture food forest in the middle of the desert that is growing a wide variety of tree crops as well as other crops. You will see the different stages of date palm tree growth and learn how long it takes a date palm to produce edible fruit. You will learn why bagging dates to protect them from the insects, pets and the weather is really important. You will discover some of the many practices that must be done on a regular basis to ensure your date palms get large and delicious fruit. You will learn why this farm does not use synthetic, chemical fertilizers and what they use instead to add nutrients and build their soil so their trees can produce some of the highest quality dates. You will discover how soil-conserving practices, such as no-till farming, permaculture food forest, keeping the ground covered and adding compost really help this food forest style farm thrive in the middle of 120-degree weather. Finally, John will interview the farmer, Robert Lower about this date farm he started in 1979. He will ask him the following questions: 0:28:56 Start of interview with Robert Lawer 0:29:25 What motivated you to start growing dates? 0:30:25 Why don't you fumigate your dates like conventional date growers? 0:32:04 What is the main pesticide that conventional dates are fumigated with? 0:32:39 Why don't you use chemical/synthetic fertilizers on your farm? 0:38:20 What do most date farms do with their palm fronds? 0:38:45 Why do you do the no-till method of farming? 0:41:25 What have you found by using rock dust on your farm? 0:48:03 Why did you decided to interplant citrus/figs/pomegranates under your dates? 0:50:37 What are the three things you would do differently on your farm based on what you have learned over 40 years? 0:57:37 You Don't freeze your dates on the farm. Why is it important not to freeze your dates? 1:03:34 What are some of your favorite old-fashion remedies for pest on the garden or farm? 1:04:50 Any final comments or thoughts you would like to share with my viewers today? 1:08:12 What is the best way to learn about your local and organic farmers? 1:10:10 How can someone get ahold of the farm? What is your website? 1:12:00 What is the best month to order dates? Subscribe to GrowingYourGreens for more videos like this: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=growingyourgreens Follow John on Instagram at: https://instagram.com/growingyourgreens/ Watch all 1250+ Episodes from GrowingYourGreens at https://www.youtube.com/user/growingyourgreens/videos Buy Seeds that John Grew at: http://growingyourgreens.ecwid.com/ Talk to John for 10 Minutes for Just $5 https://www.fiverr.com/groworganic/be-your-organic-gardening-coach-for-10-minutes Related Links: Learn more about Flying Disc Ranch at: http://www.flyingdiscranch.com/ 25% off for GYG viewers when you buy 12+ pounds Call Christina at Flying disc at 760-562-1666 to get this deal.