dates

[Brett]

now heres an idea for anybody who can wait

all info from http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/Date.html

and the back of the pack in front of me

sugar content 58.7g per 100g

Surplus dates are made into cubes, paste, spread, powder (date sugar), jam, jelly, juice, sirup, vinegar or alcohol. Decolored and filtered date juice yields a clear invert sugar solution. Libya is the leading producer of date sirup and alcohol.

Ordinarily, in palms 5 to 8 years old, the first crop will be 17.5 to 22 lbs (8-10 kg) per palm; at 13 years, 132 to 176 lbs (60-80 kg). Some improved cultivars, at high densities, have yielded over 220 lbs (100 kg) per year. 'Deglet Noor' in California may yield 4.5 to 7 tons per acre (11-17 tons/ha).

In North Africa, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, date palms are tapped for the sweet sap which is converted into palm sugar, molasses or alcoholic beverages, but each palm should not be tapped more than 2 or 3 times. Tapping the edible date palm interferes with fruit production and it is wiser to tap P. sylvestris, which is not valued for its fruit, or some other of the 20 well-known palm species exploited for sugar

When the terminal bud is cut out for eating, the cavity fills with a thick, sweet fluid (called lagbi in India) that is drunk for refreshment but is slightly purgative. It ferments in a few hours and is highly intoxicating. Fresh spathes, by distillation, yield an aromatic fluid enjoyed by the Arabian people.

Almost sounds like this palm was made for us )