The China Ranch Date Farm is located in Tecopa, CA in the Death Valley Desert. It’s about a two hour drive from Las Vegas. It’s not your typical tourist destination. The China Date Farm is a working farm that allows the public to visit. They have a small gift shop where they sell their dates, local honey, homemade salsa, and local crafts.
It’s also a great spot for hiking. Their parking lot leads to several trailheads with some specactular views and historical landmarks. The farm was started in the late 1800 by a Chinese immegrant who developed the desert land into a farm. There are still some remnant of his original buildings on the farm.
The farm is kind of a desert oasis. It sits in a small valley with a running stream that provides a water source for the lush trees that grow on the farm. While it is a nice place to relax, if you want to do some hiking you shouldn’t go in the summer. I visited at the end of October and it was nearly 90 degrees! In the hot summer months hiking is impossible. There are signs posted warning visitors not to venture out into the desert in the summer months.
Aside from the recreation there are the dates themselves. All the dates are California grown so they’re great for SCD. They had several varieties to choose from and samples of each one. I picked up a 2.5 pound variety pack, which included Black Dates, Medjool, China Ranch Hybrid, and Honey Dates (my favorite!), along with a pound of their signature China Ranch Golden Dates. All are delicious!
This trip meant a lot to me because without the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) I wouldn’t be able to take a two hour road trip in the middle of nowhere (no gas stations for over an hour) and hike into the desert. Before SCD I was terrified of long car rides or doing activities that took me away from civilization (ie: restrooms).
When I heard about a destination that specializes in my favorite SCD food I knew I had to visit. Their dates can also be ordered online if you can’t make the trip out to the Death Valley area.
Date Shakes are a speciality of the gift shop, since I couldn’t try one, I decided to make my own. It was delicious!
SCD Date Shake
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup dripped SCD yogurt
- 1 large banana (frozen)
- 6 - 7 dates
Instructions
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Remove pits from dates and chop into smaller pieces
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Add all ingredients to blend and blend until smooth and dates are chopped into little flecks throughout the shake
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