Tiny Myrtle Meadow Farm - TMMF

JP White honors his Appalachian heritage each year by making molasses the old-time Cherokee style—the way his mother and grandmother taught him. Even during the years that he worked full-time- first driving Greyhound buses and later trucks- he still took three weeks off each fall to harvest and process his sorghum into thick, dark syrup. Now, when he is not teaching truck driving at Isothermal College, he plants his field with cantaloupe, watermelon, and of course, sorghum.

JP’s lineage stretches back to the founding of the United States, and farther still. One of his ancestors, George White, was present at the first continental congress; his mother was half- Cherokee, and his father, half-Choctaw. In 1942, less than six months before JP was born, his father bought the bottom that JP farms today His father paid $50 a year for the 50 acre plot, and he farmed it with the rest of the family when he wasn’t working as a carpenter. JP has since been offered large sums for the farm but because of the personal meaning it holds, he hasn’t sold it.

JP’s molasses reflects his family’s rich history. The particular sorghum that he grows is as essential to creating the unique molasses he makes as the traditional processing methods he uses. He grows old-time Silver Drip, using saved seeds that date back to the 1860s. This type is distinguished by the umbrella-like heads on the stalks and is the only variety with the sugar content needed to create molasses. He plants the sorghum in late spring, harvests it in early fall, and processes the syrup once the weather is cool enough to stand the heat from boiling it. He uses a 10 ½ foot long evaporator— the syrup travels back and forth across it to remove all of the impurities. He stokes the fire under the evaporator with slabs of pine or poplar wood.

This method is an art which requires a lot of hard labor but produces an outstanding product. His molasses is certified 100 percent pure by state inspection and is superior to conventional molasses because it has no additives. JP bakes molasses bread with it or pours it on biscuits. He is hopeful that one of his children or grandchildren will continue the tradition after him.