Dates for Sukkot: The Harvest Festival, from a Farm Mid-Harvest

Sukkot is the harvest festival — and we’re writing this from a farm in the middle of harvest. For a week starting the evening of September 25, meals move outdoors into the sukkah, guests cycle through every night, and the table needs food that travels well, keeps without a kitchen, and honors the season. Dates check every box: one of the Seven Species of the Land of Israel, naturally shelf-stable in an outdoor sukkah, and sweet enough that a bowl of them disappears before the soup course.

Why dates belong in the sukkah

• A Seven Species fruit for the festival of the land. Sukkot celebrates the ingathering; dates (t’marim, honey of the Torah) are the harvest itself.
• No refrigeration needed. A bowl of Medjool or Zahidi sits happily in the sukkah all week — unlike most desserts.
• Built for hospitality. Ushpizin arrive nightly. A tray of whole dates, some stuffed with walnuts or goat cheese, feeds a crowd with zero prep.
• Kids in the sukkah, sticky and happy. No plates required.

How much to get

A household hosting through the week does well with a 6–12 lb box ($67–$118, shipping included). A synagogue sukkah or a community open-tent runs on a 24 lb case ($228) — about forty half-pound bowls’ worth across the festival. Firmer golden Zahidi holds up best outdoors on warm evenings.

We grow these. Zahidi Dates | California-Grown & Farm-Direct | Desert Sun Dates from our family farm in Sky Valley, California — from $19/lb, shipping included. See them →

Timing: order by Friday, September 18 to have your box settled before first night — and since Sukkot runs a full week (through October 2), orders placed during the festival still arrive in time for the later days and Simchat Torah.

Shop Medjool for Sukkot →Cases for a Community Sukkah →

More for the season: breaking the Yom Kippur fast with dates · are Medjool dates kosher? — a grower’s honest answer · dates for the Jewish year