SORGHUM PRESSING AND PROCESSING @ ONION CREEK FARM: DAY TWO (A PICTORIAL)
As we reported last week, the sorghum harvest at Onion Creek Farm began on Friday. While sorghum farmers across the country reported that there would be no harvest of their sweet stuff this year due to the drought that stretches far beyond Central Texas, Marianne’s Onion Creek Farm crop not only survived, it thrived. The "Honey Drip" Sweet Sorghum, an heirloom variety grown by folks in this area in the early 1900s, was harvested just before the first light of day on Friday, July 17. See our Day One report here.
On Saturday, Day Two, the precious crop-yielding seedheads were removed and saved. Four truckloads of cane were harvested by a crew of hard-working friends and neighbors, and hauled to the much-coveted Chatanooga 44 horizontal press sitting under the cool shade of a mighty oak. The Chatanooga 44 is one of only four such presses documented in the country. How did it come to be in Dripping Springs? Well, that's a whole 'nother story.
After four arduous hours of feeding cane through the press, a 50 gallon bounty of raw sorghum juice — whose color is best described as liquid jade — was celebrated with hugs all around. The resulting trailer full of bagasse (crushed sorghum cane) was doled out to lucky cattle on three ranches, a decadently sweet and moist treat during this parching drought.
The sorghum juice was then left to settle overnight in the farm's walk-in cooler, as the wonderfully exhausted "pressers" enjoyed analyzing the day's progress over Tex-Mex at Vallarta's. Stay tuned for Day 3 and the syrupy sweet finale!
Melanie Cambron not only harvested on Day One and pressed on Day Two, she continued to capture this sweet pictorial.
After stripping the leaves from the stalk, the seedheads are lopped off and saved. Seeds will be used for future crops plantings, sold to other farmers, and experimentally popped as in Ethopia.
The stripped sorghum cane awaits pressing.
The famed Chatanooga 44 horizontal press in action.
The cane juice pours into a bucket as the bagasse is expelled.
Waste not, want not! A sweet and tender treat for a couple of Dripping longhorns.
All photographs by Melanie Cambron
Update: Ready for Day Three?
On Saturday, Day Two, the precious crop-yielding seedheads were removed and saved. Four truckloads of cane were harvested by a crew of hard-working friends and neighbors, and hauled to the much-coveted Chatanooga 44 horizontal press sitting under the cool shade of a mighty oak. The Chatanooga 44 is one of only four such presses documented in the country. How did it come to be in Dripping Springs? Well, that's a whole 'nother story.
After four arduous hours of feeding cane through the press, a 50 gallon bounty of raw sorghum juice — whose color is best described as liquid jade — was celebrated with hugs all around. The resulting trailer full of bagasse (crushed sorghum cane) was doled out to lucky cattle on three ranches, a decadently sweet and moist treat during this parching drought.
The sorghum juice was then left to settle overnight in the farm's walk-in cooler, as the wonderfully exhausted "pressers" enjoyed analyzing the day's progress over Tex-Mex at Vallarta's. Stay tuned for Day 3 and the syrupy sweet finale!
Melanie Cambron not only harvested on Day One and pressed on Day Two, she continued to capture this sweet pictorial.
After stripping the leaves from the stalk, the seedheads are lopped off and saved. Seeds will be used for future crops plantings, sold to other farmers, and experimentally popped as in Ethopia.
The stripped sorghum cane awaits pressing.
The famed Chatanooga 44 horizontal press in action.
The cane juice pours into a bucket as the bagasse is expelled.
All photographs by Melanie Cambron
Update: Ready for Day Three?
Posted by DSBabble.com at Tuesday, July 21, 2009 6:48 PM 
Categories: onion creek farm stand
Tags: dripping springs onion creek farm sorghum molasses heirloom sorghum honey drip
Categories: onion creek farm stand
Tags: dripping springs onion creek farm sorghum molasses heirloom sorghum honey drip
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