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Sorghum is planted in late Spring. We use an Earthway seeder to plant our fields. Sorghum will begin to germinate and grow within the first 10 days after planting.
During the growth stage we will spend time weeding. We do this by walking the fields and hoeing out any weeds as we go. We also monitor for sugar cane aphids. The number one pest for sorghum. We spot spray if necessary to prevent infestation.
Sorghum is harvested in late Summer/early Fall. We harvest by hand or with a corn binder. Sorghum is prone to lodging (falling over due to wind) because of it's height. If lodging occurs sorghum must be harvested by hand.
Once sorghum is harvested we will strip off (remove) the leaves and then put the sorghum through a sorghum mill. The mill presses/crushes the stalk to remove the juice which will later become syrup.
Sorghum juice is green when it is first pressed from the stalks. It is put into a cooking box and then cooked for several hours until it becomes a syrup. We cook over propane heat.
When the sorghum is ready to be taken off it will have become a golden color and begin to form bubbles. We usually take the sorghum off the fire at 220 degrees. While sorghum is cooking we will remove the skimmings which is the green plant material that rises to the top of the juice as it boils.
When the sorghum is finished cooking will strain the syrup and then put in large containers which we will bottle from. We allow the sorghum to cool for 24 hours before we begin bottling. After bottling we will label the sorghum, then it is ready to sale!
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