Last week I planted a new section of sugarcane:

That wasn’t enough space, though, so we have to do more. About twice as much as we’ve already done!

I don’t have a great way to plant cane yet, as we do not have a tractor that can make mounds easily. Instead, we’re doing it with the Bobcat. It’s much faster than digging by hand, but not great compared to having a drag-behind plow.

One of the reasons we need to plant more cane is because we just got this:

That is a vintage cane mill, patented in 1877. The bearings have been replaced and it’s in good working condition. Just needs to be set up! And we’ll need lots more cane we can run through it, hence the need to plant more this fall.

My friend James showed up at our Friendsgiving party with that mill in the back of his truck. A total surprise!

I bought it, so now we can launch the Good Sugar Works.

Frost is coming soon, and cane needs to be planted before then. It’s now or never.

Wish me luck – it’s Bobcat time.