Shields Date Farm Garden: Indio, California

The Shields Date Garden is an odd place, located in the Palm Springs area – specifically, in Indio, California. It’s part gift shop, part cafe and ice cream parlor with a side of Jesus. It’s been in business since 1924, so it’s easy to say that the Shields Date Farm is iconic to this area. This desert area is known for producing dates. You can’t swing a dead cat around without hitting some sort of date propaganda ’round here.

I mean, they’re DATES. I never knew there was that much of a demand for dates, but out here, you’d think these are a part of your daily menu. Who eats these things?? I mean, besides your 85 year old aunt, who eats fucking dates?

My sister and I have visited the Palm Springs area many times and still hadn’t done two things:

1.) Eaten anything date-related (if you’ve been to this area, dates are everywhere).

2.) Visited the Shields Date Farm

So on this particular trip, we made it a point to go and see the Sheilds Date Farm and try something date-related. Specifically, a date shake.

Not that either one of these things is really high on my bucket list; it’s just something to do when in the area.

Quick history of the Shields Date Garden

Husband and wife team Floyd and Bess Shields started Shields Date Garden in 1924 and were the first date farmers in this region. They created some of their own date varieties, including the Blonde and Brunette dates – these are exclusive to the Shields Date Farm and can only be purchased here.

Mr. Shields loved educating the public on date farming, giving presentations and lectures in the garden. Over the years, date farming was booming in the Coachella Valley – as was the nearby resort area of the Salton Sea – and demand for his lectures grew. He decided to create a short film on the process – The Romance and Sex Life of the Date – which is still shown in the theater to this date, for free.

Shields Date Garden – Location

The Shields Date Garden is located right off the 111, in suburban Indio, California. You can’t miss the giant knight with his shield (get it?!) beckoning you to come inside and get some dates!

The Shields Date Garden is open daily from 9am – 5pm. It’s free to visit but if you want to see the sculpture garden, you’ll need to pony up some cash.

Visiting the Shields Date Garden Store

They sell dates. What did you expect?

Ok… So they sell more than just dates but if you did come here for the dates, you’ll find that they have all kinds of dates in all kinds of varieties. They also have all kinds of samples of said dates, so if you’ve never tried one before, here’s your chance. My sister and I tried a few samples and just as we thought, we really weren’t keen on dates. They’re a lot like raisins and I don’t really care for raisins. You should see me when I discover that a chocolate chip cookie was actually made with raisins – I feel like I got catfished.

Only assholes put raisins into cookies.

Anyway. Let’s move on.

The store has all kinds of date-related merch, and lots of unrelated merch – you know, your typical gift shop favorites like Wishpets stuffed animals, supposedly “handmade” soap, pens, and other bric-a-brac.

Shields Date Farm Cafe and Ice Cream

We didn’t eat at the cafe, but I’ve heard they have decent food, albeit most of their offerings include dates. My sister and I split a date shake – reluctantly. Honesty, I was tempted to just get a chocolate shake, but I’ve heard all the raving and hype over these goddamn date milkshakes that I just had to have one.

Verdict: It wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t order it again. It almost tasted chocolately. Or maybe it’s just because underneath it all, I really wanted a chocolate shake, but felt the peer pressure of having date shake here.

Related: The Ski Inn and Bar – a Salton Sea dive bar!

Shields Date Farm Movie

The Romance and Sex Live of a Date. I mean…ok. This is IRL clickbait. They make it sound like they’re going to show a prune porno in this place but all it really is, is a documentary of how the business started. The movie is only about 10 minutes long and plays on a loop. I actually sat through the whole thing and enjoyed it – which is saying a lot coming from me because when it comes to movies and TV, I have a very short attention span.

Other things to see at the Shields Date Garden:

Besides the gift shop, ice cream parlor and cafe, there is a small nature walk outside, where you can stroll among a bunch of weird Jesus statues. The nature walk is $5 if you don’t dine in at the restaurant or spend $25 in the gift shop (which wouldn’t be hard to do, as it’s a pricey shop). We weren’t hungry nor were we about to fork over $25 or more on a few bags of prunes, so we didn’t do the nature walk and I have no regrets.

Shields Date Garden – Final Thoughts

I wouldn’t bother coming back here. I mean, the date shake was ok, but if I’m going to indulge and blow a bunch of calories on a milkshake, I’d rather have chocolate. The movie was pretty interesting, and the gift shop was huge, but overall, the whole place had a very tired vibe. Definitely not a place I’d need to visit again.