2009 Hop garden picture thread.

[RhodyRed]

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!

 

[SOB]

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.

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!

 

[GVH_Dan]

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.

 

[Socrates_the_Dog]

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......

 

[summersolstice]

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!

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!

 

[CentralWABrewing]

Getting there....a few more weeks to go....

 

[wfeddern]

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:

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

 

[Miha7]

Mine is still on the field.



















How could I load picture on the forum, like other there?

 

[hungrymonkey]

First year plants and yield.

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.

 

[hungrymonkey]

 

[cuinrearview]

Mine is still on the field.



















How could I load picture on the forum, like other there?

Beautiful pics Miha.

If you end up with more than you can brew with let me know

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

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:

Future brewmaster:

Hops drying in the garage (took about 3 days):

 

[Miha7]

@ Cuinrearview

Thanks for compliment

Haw could you load pictures in this way?

 

[svengoat]

cute kid and nice hops dude..:rockin:

 

[magnj]

First year Chinook hops this weekend, no cones

 

[Saint Aardvark]

My Cascades are really coming along; I estimate I've got about 100 cones right now. That's much more than I expected for my first year! I've got pictures up here.

 

[Vic_Sinclair]

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.

Cascades:

Close-up of Cascades:

Not a bad first year from the Cascade:

 

[JustMrWill]

Not a bad first year from the Cascade:

OMG!! YOU KILLED THE DOG!!!


Sorry..that was the first thought when I saw that..

-JMW

 

[sirsloop]

3rd year nugget, pot grown on my apartment's deck...

 

[HoppyDaze]

^^^ 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?

 

[sirsloop]

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.

 

[JarrodH]

^^^ 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?

I gave mine a bunch of compost over the winter to help balance everything out.

 

[Brewsmith]

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

 

[Brewsmith]

Here's the picked cones. It's probably at least 6 ounces after I dry them.

 

[universe]

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.

http://www.universe.bookerb.com/hops.jpg

http://www.universe.bookerb.com/hops2.jpg

 

[mctc]

This thread makes my mouth water.

 

[Saint Aardvark]

Harvest time! 73 big grams of fresh Cascades! There's a harvest ale coming up...
http://saintaardvarkthecarpeted.com/beer/Hops/

 

[Saint Aardvark]

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.

 

[rod]

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!

 

[rod]

wondered why so many ladybugs when i was harvesting last night - this morning -aphids!!