Gardening with Grains by Brie Arthur

Author:Brie Arthur
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781943366453
Publisher: St. Lynn's Press
Published: 2019-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sorghum

Introduction

Sorghum was an impulse buy, simply because I had no idea what it actually was. I first saw it while touring the inspiring grounds of Monticello, one of the best examples of heritage gardening in the U.S. The rows of tall stalks immediately caught my attention. They looked like corn, but just weren’t quite right. I was intrigued and curious and wondered how I had never come across this beautiful, heattolerant summer annual.

I acquired seed from the gift shop, determined, because let’s face it, if Thomas Jefferson grew it I needed to as well. That $2.50 investment was the start of an eye-opening journey exploring the beauty and functionality of a crop that has a long history in the world.

Growing sorghum was just a summer experiment as far as I was concerned. I didn’t have any expectations for harvest; I just wanted to see it grow. Since I only had one packet with about 50 seeds in it, I was keen to space it appropriately to maximize the development. With my neighborhood garden helpers Abby and Aidan, we set out to convert the wave bed into a dynamic front yard display. Aidan carefully marked the bed every 14 inches with a divot three inches deep. Abby and I followed behind, dropping two seeds per hole. As a backup plan, in case the sorghum was a bust, we decided to add sunflowers to the border, dropping seed between the sorghum holes before gently raking over the bed and covering with two inches of triple shred hardwood mulch.

It was mid-June. This felt very late in terms of North Carolina growing, but as it turned out was perfect timing. Sorghum prefers hot soil and will germinate almost immediately when planted in late spring, as the days are still increasing in light and temperature. Even so, I was shocked to see green leaves emerging from the ground just days after sowing and couldn’t believe the rate of growth from week to week.

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