Sorghum Revival: You Can Do This!

I think a sorghum revival is about to take place. Have you always been interested in growing and making sweet sorghum syrup? Have you eaten it or seen it made and wondered if you could do it? Maybe it’s time to give it a try.

“Bronze Gold”

Sorghum holds a value of many sorts. Some find appeal in its nutritional depth. It is sugar, but it is sugar full of necessary nutrients, including iron and magnesium. To a locavore it can become the accessible local sugar. Making sorghum is self-sufficiency at its best; this sweetener can be grown and processed on your own property with minimal equipment. For me, sorghum is a full of nostalgia as the memories of my family making it have nested itself as part of my childhood. Sorghum was brought to America many years ago, and we have certainly adopted it as part of our American heritage. Sorghum can become a family or community event where this locally grown cane, with a day’s work, becomes a golden, rich syrup to be shared and enjoyed. In this way, sorghum can prove to be a community builder, strengthening and uniting friends and neighbors (as it did in the past).

Learn How!

I want to help you discover this skill and become part of this revolution! It can start by learning about the process. Read the first article I wrote about sorghum making, or this 1975 Mother Earth News sorghum article. In future blogs I will be sharing information about seed varieties and ways to procure seed. We will also discuss sorghum mills. A heavy duty, quick method to squeeze a large portion of the juice from the sorghum cane stalks is a necessity to sorghum making, this is what the mill or press is for. For cooking and reducing the juice into sorghum, an outdoor furnace under a large pan is needed. There are also several useful tools needed for skimming and stirring the syrup as it cooks that can be easily fabricated.