[Syrupmakers] stripping sorghum

[jay shumpert]

 Hello all,
I had planted a few sorghum seeds early to check the
germination. They all came up nicely, so I felt sorry
for them and fertilized them and cultivated them. I
tried to strip a stalk, and the leave came right off.
The area around the stalk that was part of the leaf
hung on for dear life. The seed head had matured to
the hard dough stage, so if I were wanting to mill it,
it would be at the proper growth stage. Is all sorghum
this hard to strip completely down to the stalk? If so
I'm in for a real treat when cutting time comes. I
wouldn't think that you would want to mill it after
the leaves only had been stripped. The part that was
left was rather thick, and I would think that it
contained some unwanted juice. Remember this is my
first year, so I'm still learning.

Jay