How to Grow a TON of Sugarcane & Why It's GOOD For You

G'day Everyone, feel free to share your opinion on eating or growing sugarcane below. Thanks for your support! Cheers :)

My dad was a North Texas farm boy. (During the Great Depression) One of their cash crops was sugar cane, or rather the cooked down syrup from sugar cane. His family had a farm that was not irrigated, so they were considered dry land farmers. Their primary cash crops were sugar cane, peanuts & dent corn. The farmers in the local area depended upon itinerant sugar cane processors. They had the equipment to squeeze the juice from the sugar cane crops & the farmers cooked it down into syrup. The guys who squeezed the sugar cane traveled from town to town, processing the sugar cane, taking a share of the finished syrup as payment for their services. The squeezed sugar canes were then fed to the livestock. Nothing was wasted. Then, of course, they had their kitchen garden where they grew crops to feed the family. (Corn, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, beans, squash, etc) They also raised hogs as a cash crop. So, they had hogs, chickens, a couple of milk cows & mules to pull the plow. My siblings & I grew up hearing stories about life on a dry land farm during the Great Depression. No electricity, no running water, no irrigation, etc. My dad was the youngest child. Because of that he never had a new pair of shoes or new clothing until he outgrew his two older brothers & their hand-me-downs at the age of 16. I grew up gnawing on partially peeled sugar cane sticks. It was sold in grocery stores in foot long segments. We considered it quite a treat.

I love when you post about these more tropic plants. A little vicarious living

For gardeners who want to grow their own sweeteners but live in a zone that is too cold for sugar cane, they might want to try growing sorghum. Sorghum can be grown in colder climates because they have a shorter 'days to maturity' (life cycle) than sugar cane. Sorghum can be squeezed for the sweet juice that is then cooked down to a syrup. Also, sorghum produces edible seeds that can be ground into a gluten free flour to be used for pancakes & some baked goods & can also be popped like popcorn. Another alternative would be to grow sugar beets. The best beets to use for sugar production are the white beets. They are sweeter & not as earthy tasting as red beets. (Beet root, for you guys from the British Empire...) Another alternative would be to take up bee keeping.

I remember when my dad would buy a small stalk of sugar cane and cut it up for all us girls to try. For those who live in the northern US, there is a variety that can tolerate our climate (to 6a) it is called Saccharum arundinaceum. I am so excited to see if I can find any next spring to start growing it.❤

As a child (in the 40's) our Florida home property was divided by informal sugar cane "hedges". I still delight in the memory of spontaneously chewing on canes!

I'm from Trinidad but live in California. I grew up eating sugarcane and loved it. Fast forward to present day life in California where we have 2 sugarcane patches successfully growing. Even introduced it to my neighbor and they love it. Thanks for the video highlighting the sugarcane and it's many uses😊

Hi Mark, we live in hawaii and have a small stand of sugar cane which we never use because of juicing issues. Cane presses are really expensive. It looks like you are using a juicer. Any advice on which one you use, and what method you use for peeling the cane safely?

Came for the tips, stayed for the singing. 😉

Great video. Here in Brazil we love sugarcane juice, called "Garapa" in some places, and organic sugar, syrup and the sweet bricks called "Rapadura" are also very popular products made from sugarcane.

"Government being 'toad-ally' wrong" was hilarious!

I have a TON in my garden, but don’t have a juicer. Anyone know a good juicer?

Brilliant - very helpful. Thank you very much from South Africa 🌍

Okay I’m getting a sugar cane bed to screen the neighbour’s backyard. Love your work Mark. When you sung at the beginning it melted my heart 😂 always lovely to see your face!

Howdy Mark, I watch all your videos and want to grow everything on our homestead. This year has been our best year so far for the garden. We might have grown enough onions to be self sufficient on onions until next year harvest. Even with something cheap to buy onions it is a great feeling knowing we were able to grow enough to provide for ourself. Keep up the great work. Semper Fi

No way I could grow this in my north US climate but I still watched anyway!

I’m in Florida, was thinking of doing some sugar cane this year

I love how you provide so much thought and knowledge on your videos growing food. Thank you, Mark.

A lot around here in Louisiana. Sometimes you can see people pulling over and running in a field to grab a few when the farmers aren’t looking 😊

Big 👍here from someone who has stopped consuming refined sugar completely! I intend to cook my own jaggery or molasses and better yet grow my own sugarcane in my backyard 😁