As sweet as honey

I was coming home from my parents Saturday and passed by a couple of guys doing something interesting behind a hedgerow. We turned around and met a very interesting man in the midst of grinding sugar cane that he grew. His press is a Goldens from 1909, converted to run on an engine instead of the four legged power source it originally had. He ground a few stalks in front of us, then gave a simple tour of how the stalks were harvested. He then helped us cut a piece to eat, it was delicious and juicy, nothing like the dried up stuff I see irregularly at the grocers. He gave us a very heavy 3-4 foot section of Jamaican Blue Ribbon so we could enjoy it at home, instead of that we planted it. Perhaps in the future we will make some of our own molasses.

I went back and saw him again today, he estimated 15 gallon of juice harvest and he was boiling it down to use in BBQ sauce and pancake syrup. He hopes to grow several acres of the stuff in the future.