Post by musicman97 on Nov 21, 2008 16:46:23 GMT
In years past, I have played gigs where everybody raised cain, but, thought You would be interested to read about this one. Here's how they raise sugar cane in South Alabama, U.S.A.
FAMILY TRADITION
The small farm behind the home of Carlos and Carolyn Wright in Daphne was the site Saturday of a traditional way of making cane syrup. Wright grows, harvests, grinds and boils sugar cane in an event drawing hundreds of friends, family and visitors to the annual Syrup Festival, now in its 12th year.
Cane Syrup-making connects five Wright generations
DAPHNE- before the first hard frost arrived in small Alabama towns like Midway and Natchez and for one long early November day of many of their childhood years, Katie Bonner and Lettie Hurd took part in an annual event that was a center of life in many southern communities. My daddy raised his own cane and made his own syrup, said Bonner, who grew up in Midway and now lives in Evergreen. It was the best around. Hurd pointed to a hundred –year-old machine used to grind sugar cane juice with a horse or mule walking in a circle to grind the stalks into the juice that would be boiled into the syrup. I’m glad to see that, Hurd said, a nostalgic look crossing her face. ‘You can’t buy those machines anymore.’ This past Saturday, Bonner and Hurd traveled together from Evergreen to a small farm in Daphne to attend the 12th annual Syrup Festival along with hundreds of others waiting for the local sugar cane crop of Carlos Wright, to become syrup. A mule was used to grind the cane, said Hurd, who grew up in Natchez near Beatrice in Monroe County. That’s what I grew up knowing. I know one thing, that one mule sure would get tired.
While smoke blew off the sugar cane juice, simmering in a long pan over a fire pit, the crowd under a nearby barn roof listened to live guitar music and enjoyed tables full of covered dishes, all while supporting efforts to fight cancer. “His dad did this for survival,” said Carolyn Wright, describing her husband’s family tradition of growing sugar cane and making syrup from it to eat and sell. “It was a way of life for them, and everybody pitched in.’
Wright said carlos grew up in Manila, a small town near Walker springs in Clark County where he learned cane syrup making from his father and now passes down the tradition to his son, Carlos Jr. 5 generations of this labor-intensive, dangerous, dirty and sticky labor of love.
‘We now give all the donations to the American Cancer Society.” Said wright, who is a 6-year cancer survivor. It was a very dear tradition in his family.
Although mules were not present Saturday, to grind the juice, even the machine powered by a tractor to do so was made in the early 20th century and carefully restored by wright.
“We cut it and strip it,” said Wright, describing the process of harvesting the sugar cane crop her grows in nearby fields, all while stirring the simmering juice, scooping off the dregs that rise to the surface. ‘You have to do it in late October or early November before the first frost or it doesn’t taste as sweet.”
A steady line of curious people are drawn to the syrup shack where Wright and his son tend the process that turns the juice into syrup. ‘I’ve known for Carlos for 30 years,’ said Robert Stockton, of Spanish Fort. ‘His dad did it with one old mule. He had a 55 gallon drum and dipped from it for people who came up to the porch. Carlos has carried on a long family tradition and kept an American tradition alive. It shows how something is done that was done out of necessity.” These days, there’s a festive mood in the air, during the community gathering, with strains of “Blueberry Hill twanging from Music man Rodney, a guitar player from Robertsdale, and more home cooked food than that crowd of several hundred people could ever eat in one setting.
“You put it on biscuits with butter, “ said Bonner, who couldn’t seem to believe someone would have to ask what one does with cane syrup. “That’s some good eating.”
FAMILY TRADITION
The small farm behind the home of Carlos and Carolyn Wright in Daphne was the site Saturday of a traditional way of making cane syrup. Wright grows, harvests, grinds and boils sugar cane in an event drawing hundreds of friends, family and visitors to the annual Syrup Festival, now in its 12th year.
Cane Syrup-making connects five Wright generations
DAPHNE- before the first hard frost arrived in small Alabama towns like Midway and Natchez and for one long early November day of many of their childhood years, Katie Bonner and Lettie Hurd took part in an annual event that was a center of life in many southern communities. My daddy raised his own cane and made his own syrup, said Bonner, who grew up in Midway and now lives in Evergreen. It was the best around. Hurd pointed to a hundred –year-old machine used to grind sugar cane juice with a horse or mule walking in a circle to grind the stalks into the juice that would be boiled into the syrup. I’m glad to see that, Hurd said, a nostalgic look crossing her face. ‘You can’t buy those machines anymore.’ This past Saturday, Bonner and Hurd traveled together from Evergreen to a small farm in Daphne to attend the 12th annual Syrup Festival along with hundreds of others waiting for the local sugar cane crop of Carlos Wright, to become syrup. A mule was used to grind the cane, said Hurd, who grew up in Natchez near Beatrice in Monroe County. That’s what I grew up knowing. I know one thing, that one mule sure would get tired.
While smoke blew off the sugar cane juice, simmering in a long pan over a fire pit, the crowd under a nearby barn roof listened to live guitar music and enjoyed tables full of covered dishes, all while supporting efforts to fight cancer. “His dad did this for survival,” said Carolyn Wright, describing her husband’s family tradition of growing sugar cane and making syrup from it to eat and sell. “It was a way of life for them, and everybody pitched in.’
Wright said carlos grew up in Manila, a small town near Walker springs in Clark County where he learned cane syrup making from his father and now passes down the tradition to his son, Carlos Jr. 5 generations of this labor-intensive, dangerous, dirty and sticky labor of love.
‘We now give all the donations to the American Cancer Society.” Said wright, who is a 6-year cancer survivor. It was a very dear tradition in his family.
Although mules were not present Saturday, to grind the juice, even the machine powered by a tractor to do so was made in the early 20th century and carefully restored by wright.
“We cut it and strip it,” said Wright, describing the process of harvesting the sugar cane crop her grows in nearby fields, all while stirring the simmering juice, scooping off the dregs that rise to the surface. ‘You have to do it in late October or early November before the first frost or it doesn’t taste as sweet.”
A steady line of curious people are drawn to the syrup shack where Wright and his son tend the process that turns the juice into syrup. ‘I’ve known for Carlos for 30 years,’ said Robert Stockton, of Spanish Fort. ‘His dad did it with one old mule. He had a 55 gallon drum and dipped from it for people who came up to the porch. Carlos has carried on a long family tradition and kept an American tradition alive. It shows how something is done that was done out of necessity.” These days, there’s a festive mood in the air, during the community gathering, with strains of “Blueberry Hill twanging from Music man Rodney, a guitar player from Robertsdale, and more home cooked food than that crowd of several hundred people could ever eat in one setting.
“You put it on biscuits with butter, “ said Bonner, who couldn’t seem to believe someone would have to ask what one does with cane syrup. “That’s some good eating.”