I finished ungrading my hopyard yesterday. I very proud of this, in spite of the eye rolls from Mrs. Flytyer concerning how far to the darkside I’ve gotten. below are some pictures ( If I figure out how to post them). First year I planted 6 rhizomes not expecting much production I just wanted to get them established. I did a pair of tripods 10’ tall which the Brewers Gold out grew. 2.2 wet 11.6 dry first harvest.
New structure is 16’ tall with each base in 250 lbs. of concrete. A wire will be strung at the top and the bases are jointed so the whole thing can be laid down with two people. 38’ apart with room for 3 more hills for a total of 6. Hopefully if I can find a source This year I had Northern Brewer, Brewers Gold, and Williamette. I would like to add Fuggle, UK Kent Goldings, and Cluster.
That’s impressive! Wish that hops grew better here in central Texas but it’s so cheap to buy in bulk that it’s not worth the effort and the water.
That’s a pretty sweet setup. The bases look well-supported. Be careful about planting your varieties too close together - they really do start to spread! I’ll be root pruning and spreading mine out this year, after three years in their homes.
I had a similar thought about growing hops the other day when I was picking this years crop. I had my wife, kids, mom, and a friend over picking over the bines on the front porch. The kids were complaining everyone was getting itchy :blah: . And it took the whole evening not including drying and packaging. My mom Said something like this is gonna save you a lot of money right. I thought to myself I can probably buy all these hops for less than 30 dollars.
Oh well its not about the money. I enjoyed picking and growing them. They are only a few years old so eventually they will produce a lot more. And like the op mentioned I was proud of they crop when it was all done. And I cant wait to brew up an all home grown batch.
At the risk of boring readers here please allow me to share what I’m trying to do. I have done some family tree work and the paternal branch came from Tenterdon, Kent Co UK, and Peasmarsh, Sussex Co UK in 1830. In 1836 they moved from Oneida NY to the Wisconsin Territory ( I know not to creative on naming the town), and established Weaver Bros. Hops Brokers and Dealers which lasted until 1896. They not only brokered and bought, but grew hops in the area.
This is the main reason I’m partial to growing the English hops.
The Howard Branch came from London in 1840 and my children are 9th generation to live on this piece of land. Growing up I remember my Father showing me wild hops that they had grown that grew in the fence line. I guess what I’m trying to do is get in touch with my heritage.
