"People believe a lot of strange things, " I do so agree! Really I have never heard of people doing that.. cept for maybe at a party! But someone would be missing some teeth if I was half way through a vegy an then told it was grown on human waste! Somehow dysentary doesn't seem that appealing. Think I would rather have diner with the 'Doners!" " You think that was funny. Well I don't want to hog the thread so I'm going to start another. Come on over, you can get a tickle there too." About time! This forum has been getting a little mean spirited! LOL Jus' joking Seramus! What I think is funny.. is how some must view porta potties at public events as a gold mine!

wow intolerant to beet sugar, and by the sounds of it, rather drastically intolerant. (is it anything like gluten intolerance? If so perhaps there are support groups our there that can help you figure out what is safe and what is not, as well as working to get companies to share the information on labels.) I'm intolerant of High Fructose Corn Syrup but it is only a mild intolerance. I don't think I'm likely to go to the hospital from consuming it, worst case is being doubled over with a horrible belly ach for a half an hour if I stupidly drink a can of soda on an empty stomach (or a big glass of Cool Aid or any other beverage high in that particular sweetener. As for the whole debate about cane v beet, I don't bake/cook/whatever enough to have much of an opinion about it. However, I did once try growing sweet sorghum. Didn't grow enough to try milling it or making it into syrup though and don't have the equipment to do so either. I understand processing sorghum (and probably cane too) is a pretty heavy task that can last several days even on a small scale.

I've never tried sugaring it, but basically you just boil the juice and keep skimming off the impurities. I've never grown cane myself, but have had several neighbors who did, and the fresh cane juice sure was a special treat. I ought to say that one did try boiling it down to sugar but decided that he preferred "long sweetening" to all the effort of keeping an eye on the boiling juice for so long--it takes hours.

Thanks for the offer Crabs. I did go to the grocery store today and picked up a cane. My question now is how do I tell which end is up? It's about 18" long and the same diameter along the entire length. I see what looks like some dried roots around each section. The sections are divided by a solid ring and a ring of little dots where I assume the roots grow from. Is the row of dots below the solid ring? Thanks, Karyn PS: It won't be invasive here because I'll have to grow it in a container and put it in the greenhouse over the winter.