re: growing sugar cane in yard. where do I buy?

Drop by the LSU AgCenter Sugarcane Research Station in St. Gabriel and see if they can give you some. Cane is planted in late summer and is harvested the following fall. From this initial planting you usually get 3-4 fall harvest out of it. By that time disease, insects, weeds etc will lead to a reduced population over that time period and the crop is "busted out" and allowed to sit fallow through the following summer where weeds like johnsongrass are controlled or soybean is grown. The field is then replanted in late summer and the 3-4 year cycle starts again. You can plant the whole stalk at a rate of 4 stalks side by side with a 1/3 length overlap with the next set of 3-4 whole stalks lined before or behind it. Cover with approx 4-6 inches of soil. Or you can use pieces of the stalk called billets. If these are used, lay 6-8 billet pieces about 20-24 inches in length side by side and lay the next set of billets end to end with the ones before and after it. Cover with 3-4 inches of soil. The stalk has bumps along it called buds at the joints and that is where the new stalks will come up from.