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Grow Your Own Hops!
Due to the high prices of hops and the demands on the market, why not grow your own?
It's easy and fun. Virginia used to be the hop capital of the US. So take advantage of the soil !
Trellis Design
Fence stakes are used to support the PVC pipe (Painted green). The PVC is 10 feet tall with T-joints to rig the trellis ropes.
Ground stakes were used to tighten the ropes on the ends and in the middle. The middle PVC anchors 2 ropes, while the end anchors 1 rope.
When it is time to harvest, the system is set up so that you just let one of the ropes loose and lower the vine so that you don't have to use a ladder.
Growing the Hops
Trainging the vines in clockwise fashion around the trellis line (Coir Fiber Yarn from Sri Lanka).
Trellis lines are anchored using small stakes.
Cascade Left, and Willamette right.
One of my dogs, Griffin, scratching his head and giving me weird looks throughout this process.
End of July. Hops starting to be harvested. Hops were harvested a couple of times, as they grow at different intervals.
Lower lateral growth is cut away about 4 feet up from the bottom. This helps advance growth upwards.
Lateral shoots are constantly being trimmed away as hops grow like crazy! I was measuring about 6 inches per day during the peak growth.
Cascade hops, ready to harvest.
Marigold flowers are used because they give off an odor that helps repell insects. Natural insect repellent. Except for Japanese Bettles!
They also put a nice touch on the garden appearance. Chicks dig them.
One of the harvests. The first year does not bring much. Dried weight this turned out to be 1 oz, which is used for dry hopping an IPA !
The hops took about 3 days to dry out, and then they were vacuum sealed like the rest of our hops and stored in the freezer until brew time.
Griffin, the hop hound.
Hopping for a nice harvest in the summer of 2008 ! Time to start brewing . . .
