The latest addition…..the Batmen Hopyard ! 

Nestled in the sunny back corner of my yard is a pole and rope trellis with lovely hops growing on it. It’s been quite an experiment that finally seems to be paying off. 

The whole thing actually started several years ago. Bruce bought some cascade rhizomes & planted them along the fence that surrounds his pool. They sprouted, and then promptly disappeared. Either rabbits or a woodchuck (Both of which are abundant in his yard) got them. They never came back. 

So last year (2004), I decided I’d give it a try. Judith and I had just bought a new house with a more open yard (Our old yard was twice the size, but completely wooded), so I bought 2 centennial rhizomes and 2 cascades. I planted them where I thought they’d get the most sun, and set up a basic structure for them to grow on. The directions said that they wouldn’t get huge the first year.  

They all sprouted, and I surrounded them with chicken wire. (oops, I forgot to use the northern politically-corrected name for it now ---- “Poultry Mesh”---- the nazis have even invaded the hardware store), remembering Bruce’s calamity, and the fact that I live in a more rural area than he does. One of the cascades died once it got about a foot tall, and the other three didn’t get more than 4 feet or so high, and came down with powdery mildew and aphids. They survived, but no cones. I wasn’t expecting much the first year, and got what I expected. It also didn’t help that I planted them in one of the shadiest parts of the yard --- of course, we had lived there two days when I planted them --- I had no idea where would be the best. 

This year, I transplanted the surviving 3 plants in late march to a much sunnier spot, and dug out big holes for them that I filled with fertilizer and good potting soil. I put up the trellis, and kept them watered and pruned to only allow 2 vines per plant. As of the end of may, they were 5 feet tall & growing like weeds. I also planted marigolds around them to ward off bugs. Marigolds have a natural insecticide in them, and they look nice, too. 

The harvest went well, and I ran all the hops through a dehydrator for 8 hours per batch at 135 F. Smelled really good when I bagged them.

The amount I got after dehydration was disappointing, though ---- 2 ounces of centennials, and maybe 4 to 5 ounces of cascades. Just enough for one batch of american pale ale. Well, I did transplant them this spring, after all.

Me adding the aroma hops to our only batch of backyard hop beer for 2005

Next year, I'm going to make a few changes to how I grow them. First off, each variety will have it's own trellis. And, those trellises will be 20 feet tall instead of 10. I also am going to fertilize once a week with miracle-gro, and at least twice during the season with manure. We had one of the dryest summers in memory this year, and I watered the plants at least 5 times a week. The plants were strong & healthy, but didn't yield much. I also am going to use insecticidal soap on the plants next year, too. I used a insecticide/fungicide combination this year that was supposedly safer (In fact, "safer" is the brand name) than most, but I prefer to go as close to non-chemical as I can. Aphids and some critter that chewed on the leaves were the main issues this year. But if the powdery mildew returns, I'll go back to what has worked in the past.

2006

The 2006 harvest was much better, but I made a critical mistake: I didn't clip the tops of the vines soon enough. I put up a 20 foot trellis this year, and figured they wouldn't overgrow it......WRONG. Before I realized, they'd overgrown it, and started sprouting cones in the crown. Made harvesting a real pain. But, I got enough hops for one killer batch of India Pale Ale.

So, next season, I'm going to clip the ends when they get to about 18 or 19 feet, and the vines will bush out lower, and hopefully produce more cones where they'll be easy to pick. I'm also going to suspend the vines from lines on pulleys, so I can harvest cones as they mature, and thereby increase the overall potency of what I pick. I also have to fertilize one of the Centennials more than the other two--- it stayed under 12 feet tall & only produced a few dozen cones. The Cascade vine way outproduced both other vines combined.

I like growing hops!

The new trellis looks more like a Ham radio tower, but it works!