Beautiful Life of Jesus in the gardens; wonderful dates, lemons, more - - - - - - - - February, 2025 Visit My wonderful wife and I enjoyed a trip to Palm Desert and San Diego, with a visit to La Jolla. Shields Date Garden is over 100 years old; We have visited for 25+ years and somehow we only learned about, and visited, on this trip. They show a movie with good insights into all that is needed to grow date palm trees… time, skill, and water are key. The gardens also have many palm trees and citrus trees and other plants, and as you wan there are 14 stations showing the life of Jesus - so nice, and contemplative and inspirational. Inside the shop you can order and enjoy date shakes or date ice cream, and rode many different varieties of the dates, some of which are unique to Shields. Lisbon Lemons! Unsure if they are available every day, but since we saw lemons on the trees, we asked, and we took home, a bag with 12 Lisbon lemons, which we sweet with only a hint of tartness - good to add to water and good to eat as-is. Thank you, Shields Date Garden - we’re glad we visited! ----- ----- -----

There are many dates palm trees in the garden. They looked like the dates were already harvested when I visited this place. In the midst of the garden, there are some sculptures along the walking trail depicting the biblical stories from the life of Jesus. It is a relaxing place. In the cafe, dates smoothies drink was excellent! One can also buy fresh dates from the shop.

Intended on purchasing date goods for a loved one and grab a bite in the cafe. The shop was quiet, but the cafe was hopping! I skipped the cafe and selected the gifts only. The shop and parlor counter are retro-charming. Dates are pricier here than at other farms — so I hope they’re worth it — and service is a youthful standoff-ish. As another reviewer noted, the labels state “packaged by Shield’s,” so I have no idea where the dates they sell are sourced.

We took a pleasant drive to Indio past Indian Wells to tour a date farm. We appreciated learning about the history of this date farm by watching the video and then touring the gardens. As it was a warm day it was nice to cool off with a refreshing margarita and beer followed by lunch. We had grilled salmon with Caesar salad and cod fish tacos, served with homestyle baked beans and coleslaw. Would definitely recommend this place for lunch. And then a stop into the gift shop to take some dates home with us.

The date shakes are fantastic! Bought some stuffed dates from the gift shop that were fresh and delicious. But the best part was the walk through the gardens - very peaceful and a lovely surprise. If you’re in the area, it’s definitely worth the stop.

The date shake is stratospherically sweet and provides the highest quality sugar high at the second sip! I went there on December 3, 2024. There is only one size shake and that is now $9.95 This place deserves to be on the National Register List.