A Sweet Job

After our cross country meet yesterday, I drove out to Tillers for their fall Harvest Fest.  They had the farm and shops open to meet guests and show folks the great work they're doing both in Michigan and Internationally.

The weather was a bit warm for the oxen, 84 degrees and sunny.  The job at hand was pressing sorghum.  A single ox, Blue and then Pollux, pulls the sweep around an old Chattanooga press while someone feeds the stalks into it.  A bucket catches the juice, usually several times more concentrated than maple sap, which is then poured into a boiler to cook down to a thick, sweet, molasses-like syrup. 

Thomas Philbrick was driving the ox, Ivy was answering questions and hauling the buckets of juice, and Jarrah was feeding stalks.  After a bit I took a turn at driving.  It took a lap or so to get the feel of where to position myself to keep Pollux out far enough to remove the distraction of stepping over those sweet stalks, but then all was good. 

All in all, a great afternoon watching a traditional autumn job.