Texas Hop Garden

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EdWort

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2006
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Location
Bee Cave, Texas
Well, this evening I got the first part of my Texas Hop Garden completed before it got too dark. I'm going to be growing 5 rizohms in this 8'x8' raised bed with an 18' tall tripod. It'll look like a Hop Tee Pee or a Hop Christmas Tree some day.

HopGarden1.jpg


I'll add more pics as it developes over the week.
 
Can't wait to see the progress.

Hmmm, I would love to see other folks hop gardens too. Someday when my kid is older I want to give it a try.

Definately keep us posted. Thanks for sharing.
 
I purchased 3 jumbo Cacade rhizomes and 3 Centennial rhizomes. One of the Centennials will be used elsewhere where SWMBO wants it as a decorative vine.

This morning, I continued work on the Texas Hop Garden. I started work on my hop trellis. I got the idea from C.D. Pritchard's web page. He says to use 3/4" EMT, but I bought 1/2" as it seems strong enough, plus it was only $1.97 per 10 ft. section.

I started off by banging the ends of my conduit to flatten them out. I then drilled a 5/16 hole through each one.

HopGarden2.jpg


I used a 1/4" bolt with washers to connect the poles for the apex of the tripod.

HopGarden3.jpg


Here we have it, but with only 1 section of EMT. It's not tall enough for hops though.

HopGarden4.jpg


We need to add another section of EMT to each leg. I used this 1/2" coupler to do the job. I'm going to insert a wooden dowel in each one for added support.

HopGarden5.jpg


to be continued.
 
Here's the Texas Hop Tripod, almost done. I still need to lash some lateral braces, attach the hop twine to the apex and drop it down, stake down the ends so it won't blow over, add my soil and compost and drip hose, then plant my hops.

HopGarden6.jpg



You can see the Texas Hop Garden in the background. The BrewHaus will be built between the trees on the left and right side and extend forward about 24 feet with the patio.

BrewHutLocation.jpg
 
Geez -- that's almost looking like a tree stand for hunting. And I have seen the deer you bait in around your yard..... :D

Venison does go well with hefe-weizen....

Seriously, nice project. Can't wait to see how the hops grow up all that way! Maybe you should put some Christmas lights on that trellis after Thanksgiving for a homebrewer's Christmas 'tree'!
 
Two feet taller and you'd be able to see it from the capitol building, or the top of the TU stadium. For Ed's sake, let's hope a tornado doesn't pick up the hop tree and hurl it like a spear through his bewhaus.
 
Yeah, I'd bet I could see a Houston overpass from the top of it. :D

I've driving rebar in the ground on each leg so it won't blow over. We don't get too many tornadoes here in Austin. I've guested more hurricane refugees from Houston than we've had tornadoes. :D

My hop garden will stand about 1,200 ft above sea level.
 
Ryanh1801 said:
looks very cool. Im jealous of your back yard.

Thanks man, but that's the front yard. This is the back yard with the Live Oak grove and the path heading down to the horse barn & pasture.

Backyard.jpg


I tell ya, I love the trees, but they are all spitting pollen like crazy. It's covers everthing for a couple of weeks. I can't wait to hose off the deck for the last time.
 
I'm about ready to plant today.

I got the poles staked down and lashed. I used 18" of rebar pounded in at an angle. It was tough with this rocky soil here in Hill Country.

HopGarden7.jpg


I then lashed some 1x2s for bracing above the coupler.

HopGarden8.jpg


Then I got two loads of organic composted horse manure and bedding the pile in the pasture.

HopGarden9.jpg


Before putting the compost down SWMBO put down a layer of newspaper and wetted it down. It should reduce any weeds coming up through to the raised bed.

HopGarden10.jpg
 
Here it is with a layer of compost.

HopGarden11.jpg


Here it is ready to plant. 26 cu. ft. of plant & vegetable soil later.

HopGarden12.jpg


I ran sisal twine between eye bolts attached to the legs and then tied the hop twine to the sisal twine. I'm good for 6 Hop Bines.

Not bad for an 8'x8' foot of space.

HopGarden14.jpg


Now to setup my irrigation system, plant the hops, and put up deer fencing. I guess Hops are deer proof, but I don't want to take the chance with young shoots coming up.
 
I've got all kinds of critters around here & nothing seems to eat hops, but you never know. The deer might be diverted to the fruit trees.

Hops root deeply, but rocky doesn't seem to bother them at all.
 
We planted some "Deer Proof" shrubs, but they got eaten anyway since they small and young.

To be on the safe side, I put up some fencing around it. The previous, previous owners of my place left loads of this stuff around as they were avid gardeners.

HopGarden15.jpg


I have my soaker hose in place and I'll be covering it with an inch or so of red cedar mulch, once the plants are up and on a string.

HopGarden16.jpg


All, in all, it was a fun project and SWMBO enjoyed helping in it. Now it's just waiting for those jumbo Cascades and the Centennials to sprout and grow to the top.

HopGarden17.jpg


I'll add more pics as the project progresses. Time for a cold Haus Pale Ale.

HausAle1.jpg
 
Mine are up and ready to train onto twine but we are suppose to get down into the 20's tonight. Now I have to cover them....
 
Got up this morning and it was 27 luckily I covered them up
1332-hops-1.JPG


Here is my Cascade from last year
1332-hops-2.JPG


and Centennial
1332-hops-3.JPG


Tomorrow it's suppose to be 25.
 
Yeah, it's 34 here in Austin. I'm glad I got all that work done yesterday.

Brewiz, you going to put up a trellis or something?
 
EdWort said:
Yeah, it's 34 here in Austin. I'm glad I got all that work done yesterday.

Brewiz, you going to put up a trellis or something?

I've got a rope suspended about 12' high with pulley's on each end and I run twine down to the plants. That way when it's time to harvest I just let the rope down and start picking.. Man I can't wait for some "Fresh Hopped Ale"
:ban:
 
Brewiz said:
I've got a rope suspended about 12' high with pulley's on each end and I run twine down to the plants. That way when it's time to harvest I just let the rope down and start picking.. Man I can't wait for some "Fresh Hopped Ale"
:ban:
That's a great idea brewiz!

EdWort, how do you plan to harvest yours? 18' is pretty high up...
 
Cool. If I had to do this again, I would use 3/4" conduit like the instructions said, though they cost twice as much ($4 compared to $2 per section).

I also would use 4 legs which will allow me to use more of the raised bed. I could get 8 twines up.

When I have to tip it over to harvest this year, I'll add a pulley to the top so can run up the Christmas lights. It will make it the last time I have to take it down, cause I use it to run up the hop twines next year.
 
Hey guys - is there a place around austin that sells rhizomes? I assume these hops would grow decently around an arbor as well...
 
EdWort said:
Cool. If I had to do this again, I would use 3/4" conduit like the instructions said, though they cost twice as much ($4 compared to $2 per section).

I also would use 4 legs which will allow me to use more of the raised bed. I could get 8 twines up.

When I have to tip it over to harvest this year, I'll add a pulley to the top so can run up the Christmas lights. It will make it the last time I have to take it down, cause I use it to run up the hop twines next year.
Remember that when the bines climb that trellis there will be a very heavy weight that will also catch a great wind. I'm concerned that 1/2" conduit is not up to the task of holding up your bines during a summer storm.
Other than that it looks like a nice hops bed.
My future hops bed is under 2ft of snow so it will be a few weeks for the snow to melt and the soil to dry before I can plant.
Craig
 
CBBaron said:
Remember that when the bines climb that trellis there will be a very heavy weight that will also catch a great wind. I'm concerned that 1/2" conduit is not up to the task of holding up your bines during a summer storm.
Other than that it looks like a nice hops bed.Craig

Thanks for the advice. the 1/2 conduit was the cheapest part of this project. I probably upgrade to 3/4" if it blows down. :D
 
yes i cant wait to try my hand at gardening this year. with my love for beer and my wifes gardening knowledge i hope i can harvest a little something for the first year if not just get them started and wait for them to come back bigger and better each year. after the rhizomes come in the mail and i can break ground im going to make a photo grow journal ive got 2 of each coming in the mail this week:

cascade
golding
mt hood
centennial
northern brewer
willamette

cheers

jeremy:D
 
Update! I can now see tiny green sprouts coming up. Woo Hoo! I'll post pics when there's enough to see, but in the mean time, I'm a happy camper!
 
Sweet! Two weeks later and it's time to poke up through the soil. Pretty soon, I'll be able to put the mulch down.

HopGarden18.jpg


I'm stoked! It does have a cannabis look to it, doesn't it?
 
Brewiz said:
I've got a rope suspended about 12' high with pulley's on each end and I run twine down to the plants. That way when it's time to harvest I just let the rope down and start picking.. Man I can't wait for some "Fresh Hopped Ale"
:ban:

That's basically what I'm doing, except with large screw-eyes instead of pulleys... Same concept though. Our contractor is coming by this weekend to pick up some equipment he left in our back yard, and I'll be borrowing his ladder to climb up on my neighbor's 2 story garage to install the eyes... Keep some lines connected to run the ropes up when they start, and plant on sunday I hope....

Very exciting.

k.
 
I wish I had more of a backyard to do this too.. then again we'll probably move in the next few years..

With my luck I'd work hard to grow great hops and then the police would show up because my neighbors thought it was something else and they'd hack it pieces :cross:
 
My three rhizomes went in yesterday. I know it's almost silly, because I can't say for sure where I'll be a year from now, but for a $10 investment, I thought it was worth the risk - and anything that might flower this year will definitely go to good use. I'll post a photo when they crack the surface, but I just planted Chinook, Kent Golding, and Cascade.

Totally awesome.

kvh
 
My Cascade is at least 7-8 feet tall.
1332-CascadeandMe.jpg

And my Centennial are doing great too!
Centennial42f25.jpg


I can already taste the "Fresh Hopped Ale":mug:
 
Looking good so far. The big plants are the jumbo Cascade rhizomes and the other 3 are normal sized Centennial rhizomes. Something has been nibbling on the leaves, but so far I have not done anything to prevent it. I'd prefer to keep it organic if possible.

4569-HopGarden.jpg


I'll be adding a layer of mulch on top of the soil this weekend.
 
10 weeks now and some are over 10 feet tall. They are doing well in spite of some bugs chewing on them. I'm done trimming them back as they start to go sideways and they get tangled up with each other. I imagine this will be one big green leafy thing at the end of the season.

4569-Hops.JPG
 
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