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| The windmill marks the entrance to the Todd family fram on Hall Road off Coot Fowler Road south of Dothan on Highway 53. |
This past Thursday Brooke Holland and I went to visit "The Syrup Man", Mr. Joe Todd who lives south of Dothan. I think many years ago the area was called Cameron Mill. That's the name I always heard Granny give it. She lived about 1/2 mile farther south on Hwy. 53. You can read about Mr. Todd's family syrup business and the syrup making process by going to www.alafarmnews.com/0108archive/0108syrup.htm
I remember going to see syrup being ground and cooked with my Grandpa. The mill we saw was powered by a pair of mules. Mr. Todd uses electricity to power his mill. In the operation we saw the sugar cane juice was cooked over an open fire in big cast iron pots. I remember seeing the pot being lifted off of the fire by two men with a big stick. They took it over to a covered area to cool. Out of another cooled pot they were ladling the syrup into metal pails. Of course we took some home with us.
We always had syrup on the table for breakfast. Try this pour a little syrup in your plate and take a small pat of butter and mash the butter into the syrup. Eat with a homemade warm biscuit. We also mixed peanut butter the same way. I usually chose the peanut butter. Oatmeal was always on the table for breakfast. About a teaspoonful of syrup and some butter in the oatmeal is soo good to a cold empty tummy. :)
I bought the Todd's Syrup Cookbook and enjoyed reading about the Todd family and their sugar cane crops and mill. I also bought some syrup that is a butter blend. Mr. Todd was sold out of the pure cane syrup. The butter blend is delicious though. The cookbook also contains some home remedies that were used in our family. Honey, syrup, baking soda, lemon, vinegar and camphor were staples for home health remedies. Grandpa made cough syrup and used heated syrup or honey, a squeeze of lemon and 1/2 a shot of whiskey.
Thanks for going with me Brooke. I had a blast!!!
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| This is the Cane in the field right now. He cuts it and then burns it back in the Spring. That's what you are seeing here. |
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| He said he has to replant some of the cane about every 5 years. The two rows on the left are the new rows of cane coming up. |
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| One of Mr. Todd's Mills. He has this one loaded on trailer to take to Landmark Park for a demonstration. This mill once belonged to the family that started Cocoa Cola. |
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| Both of these brick structures contain the pots that he cooks the cane juice in to make the syrup. |
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| These are some of Mr. Todd's family tools. Several are from the Civil War Era and belonged to his Great Great Grandfather. Mr. Joe Todd is the fifth generation "Syrup Man." |
