Ordinary home brooms are not often found in the city, but in the countryside they are still more popular than a vacuum cleaner. Brooms are knitted by themselves or bought from craftsmen, who disappear for weeks on harvesting sorghum during the season.
Grow your own broom
Brooms are made from a plant called sorghum, the seeds of which can be purchased at any gardening store. It is necessary to sow the seeds of the plant after the fall of spring frosts into the warm ground of late April - early May.
It is best to fertilize the bed well before planting so that the stems grow strong and have time to release the "brooms" that are needed. They ripen for a long time, sorghum is poorly adapted for the Russian climate of the middle zone, it needs more heat and moisture, but it is still possible to grow it: it is correct to start harvesting in late autumn, it is best to wait until the onset of autumn rains and only then harvest.
You need to cut the stems with pruning shears, the length of the future broom should be taken into account with a small margin, then remove the remaining leaves and leave them in a warm, dry place until fully ripe.
The trunk of the sorghum is quite brittle, actions with it require accuracy, so you can start working only when the stems are completely dry.
Tie up and not break
To make a sorghum broom, you need smooth stems of approximately the same length. It is necessary to remove seeds from them, which will be useful in the future for planting, otherwise, they will simply crumble at the first harvest using the object.
Removing all the seeds by hand is not an easy task, but there is one proven method: you need to take a metal bucket with a handle that fits well to the bucket, clamp the sorghum stalks between the handle and the bucket, and pull towards you. This method will quickly help clear the stems of seeds and reduce the time spent on work. If there are still some seeds left, it's okay, you can proceed to the next stage. It is necessary to divide all available stems into several bunches, while taking into account that this is a future broom, which means that the thickness of the bunch should be comfortable for holding the broom in your hand.
During the cleaning process, the stems could break, and several brooms of different lengths can be made from them at once.
After the stems have been divided and aligned, you need to start knitting the handle of the broom. It requires a flexible wire, such that it does not break when bent, if necessary, the wire can be replaced with a strong rope. In several places, usually in three, the wire is fixed on the handle, pulling well so that the stems are held tightly and do not crumble. The main task is not to overdo it.
Start knitting the bottom part - broom brooms. To do this, the lower part must be divided into three beams. Put the wire bent in half on the middle bundle, grab the bundles around the edges with the side ends of the wire and bend it, then pass the ends in the opposite direction and twist.
The panicle should be slightly flattened for easy cleaning. The last step will be the design of the broom, giving it the correct shape. The broom must be leveled with scissors so that the ends are the same length and do not stick out. The same should be done with the handle, but it is better to use a knife or pruning shears to align it.
