Time for hops

I got a few Centennial rhizomes from Steve P this week, so I went down to the garden to plant them today. What a mess! I spent most of the morning weeding and pruning. Some of the 3rd year hops are up almost a foot already. I had about 15 feet of one row that was empty -- I'd planted some Cascade there last year that didn't make it. I took out the one Cascade that had come back and planted the Centennials in that spot. I need to get some fertilizer on them all, I think. I didn't fertilize at all last year, so they are all probably due.

Hops update

All my second year hops are picked, dried, packaged, and in the freezer. I ended up with 12 1/2 pounds:

• 8 1/2 pounds Cascade
• 2 pounds Willamette
• 2 pounds Chinook

The first year hops will probably only yield a few more ounces. Those are Nugget, Mt Hood, and some more Chinook.

Update: I got the Mt Hood picked, just under 9 oz dried and in the freezer. I also picked another pound of Chinook and about 5 ounces of Nugget. Total for the year is just over 14 lbs.

Hops update

I finally finished picking all my Cascades. I ended up with 133 oz total. Those are all dried and packed in freezer bags and in the freezer now. I picked all the Willamettes this morning. The Willamettes are a lot more vine and less hops than the Cascades, so I only expect to get about a pound and a half out of them. Chinooks are next, I might get those done this evening.

A wheelbarrow full of Cascade:


About 10 gallons:


My oast is just a screen door and a fan:

The Hops are Outstanding

I've been picking like crazy. So far, I've only picked Cascades. I've picked 106 ounces so far. That's 6 1/2 pounds! I've got 3 more bines of Cascades, then I think 8 Willamette and 8 Chinook. I'll probably end up with somewhere around 12 pounds total, which will likely be enough that I won't have to buy any this year. Although, I will probably buy a pound or so of Mt Hood and a pound of Centennial.

Hops!

The 2009 crop of hops is just about ready. I picked 11oz of Cascade today, and it doesn't look like I picked anything. Here are a few pictures.

Hops!

The hops I planted last year are looking awesome! We got a little sun for the past few days, and seriously, they went from about 6 inches to 3 feet in about 3 days.

I planted a second row of hops this year. Steve P got some rhizomes from Mike G, so I got a bunch of Cascade and Chinook. Steve also dug some Mt Hood and Nugget. The one Galena that grew to about 4 ft last year is coming back strong this year. So I have Galena, Chinook, Willamette, Cascade, Nugget, and Mt Hood all in the ground. Since these are the hops I use the most, I'm thinking I'm pretty well set.

Last year, I ran twine straight up from each plant, but this year, I went with a V and trained 3 shoots up each side of the V. I'm hoping this will double my output, but I'll have to wait until harvest time to know.