Insurance That Costs Nothing

Four years ago a friend of our drove up into our driveway in his old pickup truck.  He got out and said he had something for me.  I like talking to this gentleman.  He is brilliant and knows about everything.  He likes telling stories and spinning yarns about growing up in the country and on the bayou and experienced country life, truly living off the land.  We often share vegetables with him and from time to time he brings me some interesting exotic seeds to plant.  Last year he brought us two quarts of blackberries that were as big as a quarter.  I was curious as to what he was bringing me.

We walked around to the back of his truck and he lowered the tailgate.  I thought an alligator or a snapping turtle might pop out.  He reached in and grabbed four stalks of sugarcane.  It was heirloom, Louisiana purple ribbon cane.  He told me that most sugarcane grown around here now is hybrid cane.  It doesn't grow that tall and is bred to produce sugar - lots and lots of sugar.  He told me that he was sharing it with me for insurance.  He didn't want me to eat it.  He wanted me to plant it and keep it growing so that if he ever lost his, he could come to me to get more.  I thanked him and promised I would do so.  I did take out my pocketknife and eat a chunk of it, though.

In 2019, the sugarcane is still growing.  I re-plant it every year.  This old cane is not short.  I am not exaggerating when I tell you that every stalk is at least ten feet tall - some even taller!

Right now in Louisiana, we are full-swing into "grinding season."  This is when commercial sugarcane producers state wide are harvesting cane and grinding it where it will be taken to sugar mills for processing.  I work for an oil company that is currently working non-stop to keep these farmers supplied with diesel to run their equipment.  These farmers are working throughout the night to bring the crop in.  You can see them working in the fields with lights on.  Their tractors and trucks track mud onto the farm roads.  A nuisance, yes, but I'm willing to live with it in order to get some Steen's Cane Syrup for my biscuits.

Here's a LINK to a local syrup maker that's been a local favorite for over 106 years.  I love this stuff.  I wanted to try my hand at making cane syrup at home.  In this Post From 2017 you can click and read where I walk through the steps of successfully making a batch of homemade syrup from some of the cane that our friend gave us.  It was a fun experiment and I enjoyed eating the syrup until we used it all up.  On a pretty evening last week, I was admiring the tall sugar cane in the garden and planning on what I was going to do with it.

For one thing, it is time to harvest it and plant a few stalks to keep my end of the bargain to our friend, and I'll certainly do that.  It is simple to plant.  You dig a four inch trench, lay the stalk in the trench and cover with dirt.  New sprouts of sugar cane will emerge at each joint in the cane.  I haven't decided if I'll make another batch of syrup or not.  It is not economical to make in small batches as I learned from our experiment.  I will definitely cut and eat some.  That is a given.

Earlier this week I cut four stalks and we've given them to another friend to plant.  They want to establish it in their garden.  It will be insurance if our sugar cane ever succumbs to crop failure or freeze.

I like this form of "insurance" as you don't have to pay for it.  It pays you.  I think that's SWEET!