2009 Hop garden picture thread.

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I harvested my 3rd year cascades yesterday. The upright rope I had them growing on broke and I tied them horizontally. That resulted in uneven ripening but I was still able to pick a huge amount of ripe hops from two plants.

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Holy crap! Good for you! Mostly first year plants?!

Yeah, we had about 5 third year plants and the rest were first years. I'd guess we got about a pound off of each third year plant and another 5-7 pounds off all the first years.

It was a loooooong day of picking, but a good time. Two more rows to go and then we'll be done for the year...
 
Yeah, we had about 5 third year plants and the rest were first years. I'd guess we got about a pound off of each third year plant and another 5-7 pounds off all the first years.

It was a loooooong day of picking, but a good time. Two more rows to go and then we'll be done for the year...

How many plants do you have and how many varieties do you have?
 
How many plants do you have and how many varieties do you have?

We have 200 plants and 7 varieties (Cascade, Nugget, Chinook, Sterling, Newport, Centennial, and Magnum). The Sterlings and Magnums didn't do very well so we're going to be adding a few hundred more of the other 4 varieties next year.

Also, we're drying and vacuum sealing these in 1, 2, and 5 oz. and 1 lb packages (even though I wish I could, I could never brew often enough to use all of these hops!). If anyone is interested in any, let me know. We're hoping to get a website up and running for next year but didn't get around to it this year.
 
Yeah, we had about 5 third year plants and the rest were first years. I'd guess we got about a pound off of each third year plant and another 5-7 pounds off all the first years.

It was a loooooong day of picking, but a good time. Two more rows to go and then we'll be done for the year...

Nooooooo kidding. We just picked our smaller cascade field. Our experimental pickers didn't work out as well as we wanted, so we ended up picking all weekend by hand. (Of course it was the hottest/muggiest weekend of the year.) As soon as those leave the oast, we have to start on the big fields.

Not to scare you Rhody, but think about 2 years from now when those are all 3rd year plants and you're getting about 200 to 300 pounds. That's why this winter, I'm spending all my spare time building different pickers to try out.
 
Nooooooo kidding. We just picked our smaller cascade field. Our experimental pickers didn't work out as well as we wanted, so we ended up picking all weekend by hand. (Of course it was the hottest/muggiest weekend of the year.) As soon as those leave the oast, we have to start on the big fields.

Not to scare you Rhody, but think about 2 years from now when those are all 3rd year plants and you're getting about 200 to 300 pounds. That's why this winter, I'm spending all my spare time building different pickers to try out.

Hahaha, we were saying the exact same thing while picking over the weekend! We're going to try and rig a home-made picker also. I'll keep an eye on the GVH website to see your progress over the winter!
 
I harvested my 3rd year cascades yesterday. The upright rope I had them growing on broke and I tied them horizontally. That resulted in uneven ripening but I was still able to pick a huge amount of ripe hops from two plants.

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Looks like we had some similarities in our harvesting this year:

Filipino woman picking hops? Check!
Sitting on at green table? Check!
A butt load of homegrown hops? I WISH! Maybe in 2 more years...
Good looking harvest, summersolstice...hops and helper! :mug:

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We've got lots of ideas for in-field and decaptiation pickers. Problem is you can build all year long but only test for about 1 week. We need a prototype bine to experiment on.

Actually, we had one design that worked really well. We just had so many tourists coming out, there was no time to really test them. We'll definitely have something in 2 years that will work and will cost less than a $1 million Wolf picker.
 
Had to try my hand at growing hops this year..... SWMBO gave me the go-ahead, and I ordered five rhizomes ( 4 varieties ). I planted them in tubs that I got from work for cheap ( read free ). I didn't know what to expect, but I read that I shouldn't expect too much from first year plants, I was fully expecting 2 foot tall plants with no cones at all. However, here are my first year cascades....DSC00377 - HomeBrewTalk Gallery
And my chinooks....DSC00379 - HomeBrewTalk Gallery
Will post more pics later as time allows......:eek:
 
Looks like we had some similarities in our harvesting this year:

Filipino woman picking hops? Check!
Sitting on at green table? Check!
A butt load of homegrown hops? I WISH! Maybe in 2 more years...
Good looking harvest, summersolstice...hops and helper! :mug:

8-6_Hall_Harvest_1.jpg

lol! The similarities are uncanny. My grill and aircon are just a few few away from the missus, just as in your photo. My table's black rather than green but almost exactly the same. I'm sure your helper is just as efficient and cheerful as mine... Cheers to both you and the missus!
 
After my last post wondering if I was seeing the start of some cones, it looks like the replies were correct, as here they are:

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I planted 6 cascade this year, but the cones seem to be mainly coming from a single plant that did very well.
 
First year plants and yield.

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Magnum that did not take, then I babied it back alive and planted it. Only to have my dog play tug of war on the string and break off the top.
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I harvested my Centennials and Cascades about a week ago, and still have yet to harvest about 1/2 of one of my cascades. My yield was not great, but my plants are also close together and in bad soil. I got about 6oz dried, and will probably get another 3oz of Cascades when I harvest the rest. Given the conditions, I'm happy with my backyard hops! I think this will all be going into one brew, a nice "C" hop IPA...just need to pick up a couple ounces of Chinook.

Anyhoo, on to the pics:

Hand picking the hops that were ready:
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Future brewmaster:
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Hops drying in the garage (took about 3 days):
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First year hops in Northern Utah.
My setup, Cascades on the left and Nugget on the right. The Cascade went crazy, but I'll be lucky to get an ounce from the Nugget.
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Cascades:
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Close-up of Cascades:
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Not a bad first year from the Cascade:
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^^^ so do you do anything special with the soil in your pots during winter or at the start of the growing season? Or do they just take care of themselves?
 
Well, I plan on buying a house in a month or so... so this guys will find a nice hole in the ground to live in! I bought the plant this spring fron a dude out west.
 
Here's a pic of my Chinook cut down just minutes ago, next to a glass of my IIPA that won 2nd at the Southern California Regional Championship and 3rd at the LA County Fair using the rest of my 08 homegrown hops

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Not a garden but some wild hops on my folks property in Courtenay BC. Got a bag last night and I'm going to try them out on a basic Coopers Draught kit first. Not idea what they are but here are 2 pics. First is obvious, and the second is a phone pic of the hops growing in the trees. There are tons.

Nice! My parents back in Ontario have a neighbour with lots of wild hops. They've promised to send over a bunch.
 
just harvested my halletau and cascade today since there is a chance of frost tonight.
from 2 plants of each i got enought hallertau to fill one 5 gallon pail and 1/2 of another.
the cascade i barely got one pail - its on the shadier side of the trellis.
both are second year plants.
i highly recommed a pulley system - harvest was a snap this year - no teetering on a ladder!

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