Phillip Walker lived within a half a mile of where he first saw the light of day, and he loved to share that fact with most anyone he met.
For much of his life, he lived on part of the 200-acre northern Orange County farm that has been in his family for over 200 years. His wife, Diane, said he inherited his portion of the land when he was just 13 years old, and he took great pride in it.
Walker passed away earlier this year, but that pride and his passion for learning will be remembered.
‘Variety is the spice of life’
Walker was always up to something: learning new technology, racing cars, volunteering, running car shows, hosting events, or, most recently, growing Sorghum cane and processing syrup.
“He just loved doing things,” Diane said.
Raised on the farm, Walker graduated from Orange High School in Hillsborough in 1971. He attended North Carolina State University with hopes of becoming a high school agriculture teacher. He left school early, however, intrigued by a career in computer operations. He spent 33 years working in the IT Department at Duke University Health System.
After his retirement, Walker dabbled in a variety of hobbies – acting out the quote, “Variety is the spice of life,” which he lived by. He found joy in vintage cars and created a community from that hobby – racing stock cars for over 20 years at tracks in North Carolina and Virginia.
After his racing days, he continued to promote the sport, direct races, and host events and auctions for car enthusiasts like himself. Walker was inducted into Bill Mangum’s Virginia-Carolina Early Dirt Racers Association “Wall of Fame” for his contributions to the sport in 2022.
As for the farm, Diane said, Walker’s brother worked it — and still does — growing hay and soybeans, and raising cattle through the years. But Walker’s last endeavor brought him back to his roots.
One final endeavor
Walker’s most recent passion project turned full-blown hobby was producing Sorghum Syrup on the same farm he grew up on. It took just 15 minutes to spark Walker’s interest.
Diane said the endeavor began when the two saw a 15-minute demonstration of Sorghum Syrup production at a Heritage Days event at Ferrum College in Virginia. He was intrigued and excited to try it for himself. Back on Walker Farm Road, he got to work.
In 2016, he began growing Sorghum cane. He found and repaired a cane mill from the late 1800s and used it to extract the juice from the stalks. The juice is then cooked over a wood fire to remove chlorophyll and water, leaving pure sorghum. In rural areas, the amber-colored syrup was used as a sweetener when sugar and molasses were too expensive.
His first batch took 20 hours to cook, and “it was terrible,” Diane laughed. But Walker wasn’t deterred. He was determined.
Like with any of his other hobbies, Walker’s passion for Sorghum Syrup burned hot and fast. He quickly dove into the industry, meeting Sorghum producers from across the state and beyond.
He became a member of the National Sweet Sorghum Producers and Processers Association, eager to learn more about the industry, get involved, and ultimately make a better product. He eventually served on the association’s board of directors and was president at the time of his passing.
He called his syrup “South Fork Sorghum,” named after the South Fork of the Little River in Orange County – which borders his family farm where he grew the sorghum cane.
“He was so proud of the fact that we lived here on this farm, and it just meant a lot to him that he could farm and promote something that was being grown here,” she said.
Walker also worked to promote the industry and spread awareness of the important historic and cultural significance of Sorghum Syrup. At their farm, Walker held cooking demonstrations – much like the one that got him involved in the industry to begin with.
“He really wanted to help educate people, and he was a social butterfly,” Diane said.
One year, Diane recalled, an elderly woman got emotional at one of their demonstrations. She said she remembered the smell of the cooking sorghum from her grandfather’s kitchen.
“When she smelled the air, she recognized it,” Diane said. “That touched my heart, and Phillip’s, too.”
Before he passed, Walker was gearing up to plant sorghum cane for the upcoming season. While he didn’t get a chance to, Diane said planted a small patch and hopes to harvest enough to make a small batch of syrup later this year in her husband’s memory.