Hops!

A while back I discovered through my blogging of my Great Uncle Bert's 1894 diary that the farm he worked on raised hops, and as a result of that discovery I purchased and read a great book about hops.

Title: Tinged with gold : hop culture in the United States / Michael A. Tomlan.

Published: Athens : University of Georgia Press, c1992.

Bert's diary entry for April 18, and 19, 1894

Bert's diary entry for April 24, and 25, 1894

I wanted to try growing some hops myself, and really wanted to grow a variety that was one grown here in New York State back in the day, but was unable to find any. It was getting late in the season, so I just went on Ebay, and purchased some Cascade rhizomes from Washington State, and the results are shown above.

All three of the rhizomes have put out shoots now, and I'm going to plant two in our yard, and I'm going to give one to my sister-in-law who lives more out in the country - Cohocton, NY - only a few miles from where Bert planted and tended hops. The most interesting thing for both of us will be setting up poles high enough for the hops to grow on. I understand we won't get many flowers this year, but next year should be more fun, and my neighbor Bill has suggested he might try making beer with my hops, and Anne too has expressed interest in trying to make some beer!