Hey all,
Third year suburban hop grower here. I've learned a lot, I post a lot.
Set up: I have four plants on the side of my house- my neighbor a fellow gardener thought they were neat. A couple of the wives came over and asked me what I was doing- I said putting up hop strings. They thought it was weird, but end of season thought it was great I invest that much time in my yard in gardening. That was three years ago.
Last year I expanded to my backyard. I added eight plants that only one neighbor can see- the gardener that thought they were neat.
I made a 'first year trellis' pvc tubes- one for each hop. So I had eight 10' poles in my backyard. We called it the ghetto trellis.
Today I finished building the new trellis. It's poles that are set in the ground, but only 5' tall. Off season no one can see them. In season I attach 2*4's to them and have 11' poles in the back yard. Just four.
I thought four 11' poles is better than 8 10' PVC tubes. The 2*4's are thicker than the PVC. It's a stronger trellis, but I was told it looks 'big' because the 2*4's are thicker than the old crappy PVC trellis.
Am I totally nuts?
I get that I'm quirky. I'm the hop grower, and the neighborhood brewer/tinkerer, but I also think I'm a good neighbor. Everyone in my neighborhood drinks for free. No one complains when they put away a case of beer or take a 6 pack home. I don't want to pick a neighborhood fight, especially if I'm the jerk.
Any thoughts? I've seen a lot of guys that live in the burbs with bigger set ups than me? Is 11' pushing it in the suburbs? No one cared about 10' poles last year. And again, I had twice as many.
Sorry I'm ranting, I just put the entire day into the install and end of day (end product) I get this sneer from the wife and neighbor. I'm frustrated. I may be quirky, but I'm not a bad neighbor.
Third year suburban hop grower here. I've learned a lot, I post a lot.
Set up: I have four plants on the side of my house- my neighbor a fellow gardener thought they were neat. A couple of the wives came over and asked me what I was doing- I said putting up hop strings. They thought it was weird, but end of season thought it was great I invest that much time in my yard in gardening. That was three years ago.
Last year I expanded to my backyard. I added eight plants that only one neighbor can see- the gardener that thought they were neat.
I made a 'first year trellis' pvc tubes- one for each hop. So I had eight 10' poles in my backyard. We called it the ghetto trellis.
Today I finished building the new trellis. It's poles that are set in the ground, but only 5' tall. Off season no one can see them. In season I attach 2*4's to them and have 11' poles in the back yard. Just four.
I thought four 11' poles is better than 8 10' PVC tubes. The 2*4's are thicker than the PVC. It's a stronger trellis, but I was told it looks 'big' because the 2*4's are thicker than the old crappy PVC trellis.
Am I totally nuts?
I get that I'm quirky. I'm the hop grower, and the neighborhood brewer/tinkerer, but I also think I'm a good neighbor. Everyone in my neighborhood drinks for free. No one complains when they put away a case of beer or take a 6 pack home. I don't want to pick a neighborhood fight, especially if I'm the jerk.
Any thoughts? I've seen a lot of guys that live in the burbs with bigger set ups than me? Is 11' pushing it in the suburbs? No one cared about 10' poles last year. And again, I had twice as many.
Sorry I'm ranting, I just put the entire day into the install and end of day (end product) I get this sneer from the wife and neighbor. I'm frustrated. I may be quirky, but I'm not a bad neighbor.