Producer: Donna Ross

Sweet Work

Making sorghum

On Gladie Creek in Powell County, a group of men from several surrounding counties gather regularly to harvest sorghum cane and boil it down into a sweet syrup. They’re carrying on a very old tradition, since sorghum was one of the staple crops of Kentucky’s pioneer farmers. The grain makes fine livestock fodder, and the cane can be boiled down into a sweet syrup that can be used for everything from sweetening coffee to making candy. In this segment, Kentucky Life follows the process from cutting to boiling to taste test.

For more information:
• Mammoth Cave National Park, P.O. Box 7, Mammoth Cave, KY 42259, (270) 758-2251

Producer: Charlee Heaton

Cave Country Blossoms

Wildflowers in Mammoth Cave National Park

Each year, more than a million people visit Mammoth Cave National Park in Southcentral Kentucky. Understandably, most of them head underground to see something of the world’s largest cave system. But there’s plenty to see on the 80 square miles of surface, too—including a wide variety of colorful wildflowers.

Naturalist Randy Seymour, working with the blessing and encouragement of the National Park Service, catalogued those flowers in the book The Wildflowers of Mammoth Cave. In addition to facts and photos to help the hiker identify the flower by the side of the trail, Seymour’s book offers historical information on how Native Americans and pioneers used various flowering plants for medical and other purposes.