I was so excited when Jackie from The Seaside Baker sent me an e-mail titled “Palm Springs”.
Palm Springs, what could this be about, something fun, I’ve never been to Palm Springs, is she inviting me to Palm Springs? These were all the thoughts running through my mind as I opened the e-mail. And sure enough, it was something fun and she was inviting me to Palm Springs!
Jackie was part of an exclusive group of food bloggers invited by the California Farm Water Coalition to participate in a weekend tour of farms in the Coachella Valley and areas surrounding Palm Springs. They had a last-minute spot open up and Jackie recommended me (thanks girl!)
Next thing you know we’re standing high above the Coachella Valley on our way home from an amazing weekend in Palm Springs and beyond!
We started the weekend by doing a little carrot picking.
Or should I say, carrot shoveling! Along the way we learned all about the water needed to grow the food, such as these carrots!
Did you know that it takes 894 gallons of water to produce the food one person consumes in a day? That’s a lot of water!
We then headed over to Seaview farms where they’re growing a whole lot of fresh citrus and dates!
Date trees on the left, citrus on the right, I’d like to live in the middle!
Here’s another fun fact for you: California annually exports $12.9 billion in farm commodities to 194 countries and needs 41% of the state’s dedicated water supply to do so!
In fact, 99% of the United States dates come from California! And who could live without delicious Bacon Wrapped Dates, right?
After eating up some delicious grapefruit, sliced right off the tree we headed over to the Salton Sea!
The sea is sustained by agricultural runoff from the Imperial and Coachella valleys and is a haven for hundreds of species of fish and aquatic birds!
After the Salton Sea we headed into Palm Springs and off to dinner. After a lovely dinner at Jackalope Ranch, we retired to Indian Wells Resort and Hotel to recharge for Day 2!
Day 2 began at the Oasis Date Gardens.
Yes, more dates!! They took us on a quick tour of their facilities and let us try a date shake! Yum!
For 100 years Oasis Date Farm has been providing hundreds of thousands of dates around the globe, they now produce over 1.4 MILLION pounds of dates per year!
A typical chicken sandwich requires about 200 gallons of water to produce, so just imagine how much water it takes to grow 1.4 MILLION pounds of dates?
After hanging with Mr Date Man, we headed over to the Coachella Valley Water Recharge Facility to check out the operations they have going on!
This facility uses Colorado River water delivered to the valley via the Coachella Canal, across 120 miles to Lake Cahuilla in La Quinta. The water then travels along existing irrigation pipes, is pumped into 39 recharge basins and left to percolate into the ground.*
The facility can recharge the Coachella Valley’s aquifer with up to 40,000 acre-feet of water annually. One acre-foot is 325,851 gallons.*
Pretty cool stuff! I’m up for anything that helps my delicious California fruits and veggies grow!
After that, it was over the mountains and through the woods to grandmothers house San Diego we go!
Thank you to the California Farm Water Coalition for the fun and informative weekend!
Check out more information at “Food Grows Where The Water Flows” on Facebook and give them a “like” to learn more interesting facts about how food is grown in the great state of California!
*Source: http://www.cvwd.org/news/news70.php
