I'm Planting a New Crop in the Garden

Late last week a friend drove over to the house and said, "I've got something for you."  That kind of made me excited, so I followed him as he walked around the back of his truck and reached in the bed. He pulled out five stalks of what he called Louisiana Purple Sugar Cane and told me that it was an old variety that was once planted all over South Louisiana before the new varieties were developed.

He told me that the reason he was giving it to me was partially selfish.  He wanted to have me grow some as "insurance" in the event that he lost his to a freeze or to crop failure.  In that case, he could come get a few stalks of mine and keep the crop growing.

Louisiana Purple Sugar Cane

Here is a closer look at how the purple sugar cane got it's name:

Since I have never planted cane, he gave me a quick tutorial on how to do it.  He said that I needed to cut them about two feet long so they would be straight and fit in the furrow.

I quickly pulled up a couple rows and placed the cut cane across the wide rows to ensure that the cane would fit if I planted them in double furrows atop the rows.

Then I planted the cane.  Apparently the sugar cane will begin sprouting new shoots from each of the joints. I'll need to keep it watered to ensure sprouting takes place. The more water you give it, the more juice you'll get from the cane.

So what's the end game here?  What am I looking to do?  Well, two things.  First, I remember when I was a boy, my grandfather showed up one day with a stalk of sugarcane.  He pulled out his pocketknife and began slicing off the outer portion of the cane and then gave me a piece of the "skinned" sugar cane.  "Chew it," he said. It was sweet and good to chew on.

Secondly, I want to make some syrup.  We love Steen's Cane syrup poured onto our biscuits, pancakes and waffles, and we want to try to make our own.  I was able to find a youtube video by a guy called David the Good, and he demonstrated how to make pure cane syrup without having a sugarcane press.  I want to try my hand at that!!  I will keep you posted on how this little experiment works out.  Maybe at some point you can come over and enjoy some homemade biscuits and syrup with us.