In order to avoid things such as the hop shortage, I am going to grow my own hops. I have ordered 24 rhizomes, and have plenty of room for the growing. But to get the variety I need for my own use, I will have so many plants, and will have extra hops.
Seems a shame to just compost them. I'd like to sell for a very reasonable price, As it will take some time/effort to dry/package. But don't even know how, what where or such. Do I need some kind of license? Can I just sell on a board like this? Is there even a market for someone's backyard hop crop?
First batch will be ready this fall, so I'm really in no rush. Just trying to plan ahead.
Does anybody have a clue of how I should proceed???
I think if you're selling a small surplus you'd be okay listing in the classified. If you plan on producing them for sale you should buy a vendor's license. It's pretty cheap considering you would have a lot of interested clients. Where is Sequim?
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Thanks for the advice, while I was searching tonight I found a guy starting a "hope exchange forum" in Seattle. Sounds like he is trying to get folks like me together to trade, and we'll have a greater variety.
There are government subsidies for farmers. I don't know/think that 24 rhizomes will qualify you, but it's definitely worth at least asking an accountant about.
I can't imagine it'd be difficult to at least break even on your growing hobby if you were selling the hops, It just depends on how much time and effort you want to put in, I suppose... and what your time is worth...
Like, for any business, to take deductions, you just have to show that you have a profit motive. A few quickly documented cost calculations and keeping your receipts and that's about all you need. Maybe you'd care to do it, maybe not... but why pay taxes on something that uncle sam will let you do for less?
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Last edited by Sir Humpsalot; 02-18-2008 at 11:34 AM.
In order to avoid things such as the hop shortage, I am going to grow my own hops. I have ordered 24 rhizomes, and have plenty of room for the growing. But to get the variety I need for my own use, I will have so many plants, and will have extra hops.
Seems a shame to just compost them. I'd like to sell for a very reasonable price, As it will take some time/effort to dry/package. But don't even know how, what where or such. Do I need some kind of license? Can I just sell on a board like this? Is there even a market for someone's backyard hop crop?
First batch will be ready this fall, so I'm really in no rush. Just trying to plan ahead.
Does anybody have a clue of how I should proceed???
If you can PM me the relevant info, I may be interested in this. I know it's not good to count your hops before they've grown, but if I have an idea of prices and your location for shipping costs, that might be a nice late-year supplement for me.
If you're planting this year, you likely will not have much of a crop til next year. Hops take at least one year to become established.
That's not 100% accurate. It varies by variety. I talked with a local hop grower who is friendly to our club and he said some will produce 50% the first year. Others 75% and still others will produce 100% crop. One thing he did mention was when the start gets about 5 inches above ground, cut it back to ground level and let it start again. He said it helps with production.
That's not 100% accurate. It varies by variety. I talked with a local hop grower who is friendly to our club and he said some will produce 50% the first year. Others 75% and still others will produce 100% crop. One thing he did mention was when the start gets about 5 inches above ground, cut it back to ground level and let it start again. He said it helps with production.
Did the hop grower provide an explanation as to why this is so. I'm going to be trying to grow hops in central Texas with drip irrigation and I want to try everything I can to get the plants well established. If I get a crop this year I'll be hoppy but I'm really banking on learning what is necessary for successful plant growth in the summer dry winds and then hope for a crop in year 2.
Back yard hop farmers
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