Ah, Sweet Sorghum

Fall in the north Georgia mountains brings not only the beautiful red, orange and yellow leaves, it also brings the much welcome cooler weather and…The Sorghum Festival.

What is Sorghum you ask?  Sweet sorghum is made from 100 percent pure, natural juice extracted from sorghum cane and has been produced in the United States since colonial days. Although it is grown extensively for syrup production in the southeastern states, some sweet sorghum syrup has at one time or another been produced in every one of the contiguous 48 states.

In early October the farmers of the Blue Ridge mountains start cutting and stripping the cane and before November comes, the best syrup in the world is ready to enjoy. Sorghum syrup is enjoyed in many ways; poured over pancakes and waffles, drizzle over butter-laden biscuits or bake it into cookies, cakes, breads and beans are just a few.  Do you have a favorite way of using Sorghum or an interesting story to share?  Post a comment, I would love hearing from you if you do.

The Sorghum Festival is this weekend and next here in Blairsville, GA and we will be heading there on Sunday, as I have to replenish my supply.  I use it, instead of honey, when making my Rye bread.  If you want my recipe for the Rye bread, just email me at by clicking here.

In my book, Appalachian Gold, which is set in the north Georgia Mountains, the heroine and her husband inherit his parents’ property on which Sorghum was raised.  Below is an excerpt from the book.  I hope you enjoy it.  And I hope you will enjoy trying Sorghum.

CHAPTER 6

On a wintry January night in 2007 their lives changed. Craig’s parents owned 90 acres of land outside of Blue Ridge in Morganton. They had named it Lasher Farms and made their living as farmers growing sorghum, wheat and rye. Their dream had always been to turn it into a winery and the previous year they had planted 40 acres in grapes. While returning from a winemakers and vintners meeting in Gainesville their car lost control on an icy patch and crashed head-on into a truck on Highway 52 not too far from Amicalola Falls State Park. The truck driver sustained only minor injuries. Craig’s parents were killed instantly.

Craig and Jordana took care of all the funeral arrangements in a daze. Nothing had prepared them for this. As an only child Craig inherited the farmland and house. Even though the home and land on the farm were free and clear there were a lot of expenses associated with running it. There was a small insurance policy but it did little more than pay for the funeral expenses and some farm equipment debt. They jointly made the decision to move to the farm so they didn’t have rent expense. Craig would continue his job as a mechanic. They would do their best to keep the dream of establishing a winery alive.

Jeremiah was now four years old. Jordana would continue to be a stay at home mom but now she would also be assuming a lot of responsibilities associated with managing the farm. Craig would help out during weekday evenings as best he could after arriving home and full-time on weekends. It was a steep learning curve as neither one of them really knew much about running a farm, let alone developing a winery. There was so much to learn and so little time or money to do it. But they also wanted to fulfill and share in the dream.

At the end of the first year of farm life they were both exhausted. Some days it was all they could do to take a shower and crawl into bed. One Saturday evening Craig was sitting with Jordana in the living room. He was staring into the fire in the fireplace. Finally he turned towards her.

“We can’t keep doing this. It’s killing us. We do nothing but work and there’s no time or money to do anything else.”

Check out my web page for a calendar of my book signing events, I would love to see you at one of them.