Sorghum Made the Old Fashioned Way in Monterey

It’s the start of September which means it is the start of the sorghum harvest season.

Starting on Saturday and on Labor Day the Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill will be bottling sorghum from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill Co-Owner Sherry Guenther said it’s better to come sooner than later on Saturday and Monday, and you will get to see a piece of history in person.

“Lots of people to come to watch it, they’ll usually have a horse and I’m pretty sure they will this year, that shows the old fashioned way of doing it, you know hooked up to the mill, turning it around to squeeze juice out, that’s the old fashioned way that’s not the way we get most of our juice but that does show people part of their heritage,” Gunether said.

This is just the start of the sweet sorghum production season though. Guenther said the mill will skip Tuesday and Thursday after Labor Day, but then things really start heating up.

“The next Saturday is when we’ll get in full swing making every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday until the end of October,” Guenther said.

Gunether said her husband’s family have been making sorghum for over 50 years. Guenther said to get there as early as possible because they will start filling jars with warm sorghum at 9:00 AM, and this year will have a later harvest due to the weather.

Sorghum syrup comes from Sorghum cane, which is squeezed for juice. The juice is then pumped into a tank and preheat it over night. The next day, it will be boiled down to sorghum syrup.