Eastside Messenger - October 27th, 2019

PAGE 6 - EASTSIDE MESSENGER - October 27, 2019
www.columbusmessenger.com
Lung Cancer?
Asbestos exposure in industrial,
construction, manufacturing jobs, or the
military may be the cause. Family in
the home were also exposed.
Call 1-866-795-3684 or email
cancer@breakinginjurynews.com.
$30 billion is set aside for asbestos
victims with cancer. Valuable settlement
monies may not require filing a lawsuit.
Winchester
Dental
Call us today to schedule
an appointment.
Winchester Square
Shopping Center
614.834.1834
Ladan Pourmoghadam
D.D.S.
Be a Part of Our
Local Worship Guide
Our upcoming Worship Guide is geared toward
celebrating faith and helping readers connect with
religious resources in our community. Make sure these
readers know how you can help with a presence in this
very special section distributed to more than 18,000
households in the East area.
The cost is $20 per issue. (must run two twice)
Contact us today to secure your spot in Worship Guide.
614.272.5422 • kathy@columbusmessenger.com
A Special Section From
Now offering our
'Smile Plan' to our
non-insured patients
columbus
Look Great
Feel Great
Sleep Great
Providing Gentle,
Caring Dentistry
In a Comfortable
Setting.
Accepting New Patients
Most Insurances Accepted
Messenger photos by Rick Palsgrove
Kerry Sherrill of Metro Parks Slate Run Living Historical Farm is shown here inserting sorghum stalks
into the horse powered sorghum press. The press squeezes the sorghum juice from the stalk into a
bucket. The juice is then boiled down to make sorghum molasses.
How sweet it is!
By Rick Palsgrove
Eastside Editor
Fall is a busy time down on the farm as various
crops are harvested from the fields, including
sorghum which is used to make molasses.
Sorghum molasses is a thick, dark brown syrup
used to sweeten many of the cakes, cookies, as well
as baked beans made at Metro Parks Slate Run
Living Historical Farm, which depicts life on an Ohio
farm in the 1880s. The molasses can also be poured
over biscuits or pancakes.
“Sorghum is very sweet,” said Mike Huels of Slate
Run Living Historical Farm. “It’s not as sweet as
sugar cane, but it is still very sweet.”
The sorghum is harvested in the fall when it is at
its peak. Farm workers strip the leaves from the
sorghum stalks and cut off the seed heads. The
sorghum stalks are then fed by hand, one-by-one
1880s style, into a horse powered press. As the press
turns, it squeezes the juice from the stalks and the
juice is then collected in a bucket. The flattened, dry
stalks come out the other side of the press and are
laid in a circle around the press to give Marcus, the
farm’s horse, more traction as he walks around to
power the press.
Slate Run Living Historical Farm’s Dave Trotter
said the farm uses a sorghum press from the late
19th century made by the Chattanooga Plow
Company.
“It’s a simple machine that needs little maintenance,”
said Trotter. “It has three gears - one big one
on the main cylinder and two on the small cylinders.”
After the sorghum juice is collected, it is poured
into a large, flat evaporator pan and boiled over a
fire. The thin, green juice slowly boils down into a
thick, brown syrup. While it boils, the farmers use a
hand held skimmer to remove the impurities that
boil to the surface in the evaporator pan.
Mike Huels of Metro Parks Slate Run Living
Historical Farm skims off the impurities as the
sorghum juice boils down into molasses in the
evaporator pan.
Huels said it can take around four hours to boil 10
to 12 gallons of sorghum juice down to about two gallons
of syrup. He said this is a much better yield than
what can be obtained during maple sugar season in
the late winter when it takes about 40 gallons of
maple tree sap to get a gallon of maple sugar.
Huels said our farming ancestors would use
sorghum, maple sap, and honey from beehives to
make their own sweeteners because refined sugar
purchased from a store could be expensive.
The process of making sorghum molasses takes a
lot of work, but the tasty payoff is worth the labor.