[Syrupmakers] stripping sorghum

[Raymond Weaver]

    Jay, you don't have to be that careful when you strip. The leaves add 
vegetable matter to the juice which increases the skimmings. That is why 
most of us strip them off. A couple of whacks with your stripper is all you 
need. If a little piece of leaf remains - that is ok. An old hand saw makes 
a great stripper. We put a more convenient handle on them and we sharpen the 
back edge to cut the stalks down with.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jay shumpert" <rattrapsc at yahoo.com>
To: "Syrupmakers" <syrupmakers at syrupmakers.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2008 8:58 PM
Subject: [Syrupmakers] stripping sorghum


> 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
>
>
>
>
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