New 100 Rhizome hop farm

[basementbrewbrad]

You can see in the second picture how we are going to pick them with a ladder across the header system. Everything still need to be tied in and bolted up

 

[bornholtz]

Wow, awesome setup!

Not sure if you're familiar with the Stafford Brewers Club - https://www.facebook.com/groups/staffordbrewers/

But we'd love to have you join us for meetings.

I imagine we'd be able to round up a fair amount of labor to pick hops when the time comes too!

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Wow, awesome setup!

Not sure if you're familiar with the Stafford Brewers Club - https://www.facebook.com/groups/staffordbrewers/

But we'd love to have you join us for meetings.

I imagine we'd be able to round up a fair amount of labor to pick hops when the time comes too!

Thanks,

I will have to meet up with you guys some time when I am down that way

 

[rexbanner]

thank you... well aware

Do you have a harvester? Takes me about an hour to pick one plant by hand.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Do you have a harvester? Takes me about an hour to pick one plant by hand.

No but I have friends and family members!
If we are successful with these 100 plants and decide to add more maybe a harvester will be in order

 

[rexbanner]

No but I have friends and family members!
If we are successful with these 100 plants and decide to add more maybe a harvester will be in order

Yowza. That's about 100 hours of picking, plus you gotta dry and package em. Harvesters are 30k plus, but you can make one. There are some plans out there.

Also I highly recommend just cutting em down rather than using a ladder.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Yowza. That's about 100 hours of picking, plus you gotta dry and package em. Harvesters are 30k plus, but you can make one. There are some plans out there.

Also I highly recommend just cutting em down rather than using a ladder.

Yea I was talking about making a harvester... I don't have 30k to spend on a harvester. We will most likely cut them down... the scaffold system will allow us to do that much more easily.

 

[demons210]

You should check out u of Vermont. They have a hop extension and some pretty cook things going on. Also check out the bine 3060. Good luck to you

 

[basementbrewbrad]

You should check out u of Vermont. They have a hop extension and some pretty cook things going on. Also check out the bine 3060. Good luck to you

Some good info. I think we will make something to help us with harvesting in the next couple of months.

 

[demons210]

Some good info. I think we will make something to help us with harvesting in the next couple of months.

Apparently the bine 3060 plans are online somewhere. I haven't been able to find it yet though. The reason I know about these things is because I plan on starting a hop farm in eastern pa next year. Good luck to u

 

[rexbanner]

Yea I was talking about making a harvester... I don't have 30k to spend on a harvester. We will most likely cut them down... the scaffold system will allow us to do that much more easily.

Cool man, I will keep following this thread. I have about 20 hop plants at this point and would love to find a way to avoid picking them. I'm also in VA, let me know if you have any questions about growing hops here.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Ok guys we are nearing completion on the build. All that is left to do is put in the permanent rack braces and finish bolting the headers. Once we get that in all of the temporary braces and stakes can come out and put up our rope and hop twine and get these bad boys in the ground.

 

[Greenbudobeer]

Holy cheap! Now that a lot of work! Looks great, did you use pressure treated lumber?

 

[bigbadal]

my god...you don't know what you're getting yourself into my friend. I have 4 high yielding plants and its a big job at picking time, not to mention watering and pruning in the spring/summer! you're going to have a lot of hops to brew with, how do you plan to dry them?

 

[GVH_Dan]

Apparently the bine 3060 plans are online somewhere. I haven't been able to find it yet though. The reason I know about these things is because I plan on starting a hop farm in eastern pa next year. Good luck to u

I'm pretty sure we don't have the plans on line any more. When we got a professional website done, a lot of that info didn't transfer.

If you look at our equipment website (Yeah, Bine Implement is part of Gorst Valley Hops.) you will see plenty of pictures of the equipment. Basically, its just a drum with picking fingers attached. Some of our growers have built their own and had luck with two drums but we subscribe to K.I.S.S. You can also see the basics of our separator. Trommel screen to get the big stuff and pressurized dribble belt for the small stuff.

If you are going to build your own, send me a note. I'll get you a contact to purchase the picking fingers from a Danhuaer rep direct. They can sell you pre-made picking fingers that are WAY better than what you can build and probably cheaper than the wire you would buy. Its what we do and it saves a boat load of time and $$'s.

Before you even think about buying ours, a Wolf or anyone other picker, you really should try building your own. Its a good winter time project.

But for the first two years, untie, drop them down, pick and then tie them back up. It will be worth more to you in the long run to give them the extra time to grow root mass than to have an easier harvest.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Thank you gvh dan... I will be in contact with you about the picking fingers.

Greenbudobeer, Yes it is pressure treated lumber. This bad boy has been getting alot of attention from low flying helicopters, it will be interesting to see how much it gets when there are green things growing buds all throughout it. Hopefully nobody gets to close to it... We will have some warning signs hung up so that anybody who wants to get really curious will think twice about their proximity.

I am amazed by the amount of people who have offered a helping hand in this project so far. I will owe quite a few people a batch of beer and/or some free hops when all is said and done.

 

[Greenbudobeer]

Sorry about the holy cheap(my kindle fire doesn't know crap as a word yet lol)

Soo... Holy crap!!!( there nothing cheap about that much lumber)

I bet with that thing the government been checking you out from satellites I would have offered to help if I wasn't on the other side of the country, because I want to see this beast in action at the end of the season.

I glad you didn't use plain out of the bundle pine, I used pine 4x4s for posts for my garden and the rotted out in 3 years. The only down side is that there is a lot of talk about how pressure treated lumber likes to leach of some of its chemicals over time. I don't know if this is overly worrisome gardeners of the truth. I went with cedar with a natural flax seed oil for my planter box's, but the cost of it was ridiculous. The structure you made looks like it would last 30 years and withstand an earthquake!

 

[GVH_Dan]

I'm just waiting to see which are the "temporary braces and stakes" and what is permanent.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

All of the permanent braces will be high up. None of the lower braces you see will be used once the rack braces are put in place. The lumber for the rac braces, the I hooks, and 1600 feet of twine ordered.

We are in this one for the long hall. I hope this bad boy can make us some money because it sure has cost a pretty penny.

For all the work my dad has done on this project I took him to his first Nationals game at Nats park. It was a glorious day, although it was strange not to be down on the field working with the guys. A nice day off resulting in a win for the Nats.


I will update again, hopefully, this weekend with some pictures of everything completed and plants in the ground.

 

[PleasantValleyHops]

All of the permanent braces will be high up. None of the lower braces you see will be used once the rack braces are put in place. The lumber for the rac braces, the I hooks, and 1600 feet of twine ordered.

We are in this one for the long hall. I hope this bad boy can make us some money because it sure has cost a pretty penny.

For all the work my dad has done on this project I took him to his first Nationals game at Nats park. It was a glorious day, although it was strange not to be down on the field working with the guys. A nice day off resulting in a win for the Nats.

I will update again, hopefully, this weekend with some pictures of everything completed and plants in the ground.

Just realized ur not too far away. Good luck with everything man.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Framing is complete along with a bluebird house in the center for the little fellas. My dad decided to put a house up for them since they have been eyeballing it all along. All of the rack braces are permanent and this thing should withstand any major thunder storms or whatever mother nature throws at it.

 

[GVH_Dan]

I like the birdhouse, but if you are doing it right the birds will build their nests right in your bines. Every year, we have to stop the picker several times to because someone missed a birds nest. The catch on the teeth and stop the rotation. I'm not complaining because I would rather deal with that then deal with all the bugs those bird eat.

 

[LowNotes]

Glad I checked this thread out, these are my old stomping grounds! I went to high school in Stafford a little over 10 years ago (1 year at Stafford high, the next 2 at Colonial Forge) and just planted my first hops at my Dad's place out in the country near rt. 17 2 weekends ago. Bonus: I work across the street from Nat's park and am a huge fan (by the way, you guys do a kickass job with the grounds/field, beautiful stadium).

I just did 6 centennials in the pole/teepee method, but cannot wait for the first sprouts. I have a small backyard garden at my place and just really enjoy working outside growing stuff, I hope it continues to be fun and rewarding for you too.

If my life isn't going crazy I'll try and send a message your way around harvest time to lend another set of hands.

As far as getting checked out by the low-flying copters, I am sure you know (but doubt many others on here would) that Quantico is a big CIA training base

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Glad I checked this thread out, these are my old stomping grounds! I went to high school in Stafford a little over 10 years ago (1 year at Stafford high, the next 2 at Colonial Forge) and just planted my first hops at my Dad's place out in the country near rt. 17 2 weekends ago. Bonus: I work across the street from Nat's park and am a huge fan (by the way, you guys do a kickass job with the grounds/field, beautiful stadium).

Thank you... There is quite a bit of time and effort that goes into the field there. John, Mike, and Matt, (the head groundskeeper, assistant, and 2nd assistant) are the best in the business and it shows on that field. I always have to think how lucky I am when I am out painting the batters box before a game or repairing the clay after the game. I was glad to work last night and see them win again!

I went to colonial forge... My parents about 2 miles away from it. Since they tore all the woods out from in front of the hop yard by the seperate garage you can see the school from the top of the garage.

 

[LowNotes]

Thank you... There is quite a bit of time and effort that goes into the field there. John, Mike, and Matt, (the head groundskeeper, assistant, and 2nd assistant) are the best in the business and it shows on that field. I always have to think how lucky I am when I am out painting the batters box before a game or repairing the clay after the game. I was glad to work last night and see them win again!

I went to colonial forge... My parents about 2 miles away from it. Since they tore all the woods out from in front of the hop yard by the seperate garage you can see the school from the top of the garage.

Yeah, it is a good time to be a Nat's fan. I could only listen to the first game on the radio, and read a recap on the second one, but tonight I get to watch it on TV and I am stoked! I am taking my Dad to a game on the 13th for his B-day, I love days at the ballpark.

I couldn't believe how much of the woods they tore out around Colonial Forge. I graduated in 2001 (first graduating class, woo-hoo) and would never have imagined what it looks like nearby today. When I was down 2 weeks ago planting hops was the first time I had seen they cleared out the woods across the street, and not just the ones down Courthouse where they put up the new Augustine development. I guess it was bound to happen eventually though as the DC suburbs continue to sprawl out.

Good luck with the hops farm, I'll try and remember you are down there and maybe swing by for some local purchases once you have the whole operation up and running. What is the plan for the final product anyways? Selling fresh locally/farmers markets, pelletizing and shipping, shipping fresh/leaf hops, selling to a packager/distributer?

 

[basementbrewbrad]

I plan on starting off locally then moving to shipping them fresh. I don't expect a whole lot this year but if they do well I will find homes for them. The woods across the street from Forge... that is where my parents live.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Everything is planted... As you can see in the pictures the headers are facing inward so we can mount the I hooks and hang the plants properly. Each Variety has its own row with an empty 6ft section between them.

waiting to be covered

done


Help Please! Does anybody have a recommendation on how high to mount our lower strings that we are going to tie the vertical strings for the bines? We would like to mount them high enough to get a tiller between the plants so that would be about 1ft; would that be too high?

 

[GVH_Dan]

Wow...that's a heck of a set up. I'm still not quite seeing what you are doing but I'm guessing 2 twine per rhizome? If I'm guessing correctly, you are planning on running a wire/rope about a foot above the hill and then tie coir twine (or similar) from that bottom wire up to an "I hook" screwed into one of those 2 x 4's?

OK, 1 foot is fine. That's what we do. We run simple 12 gauge wire about a foot off the ground and above the hills. We attach our drip irrigation to it and also tie the twine off. Since our design has a bit less structure, we tie it pretty tight so there isn't a lot of swing. Yes, we have to wait a little longer to train but its usually only a day or so.

As far as tilling goes...the first year you can go for it, but I would stop after the second or third time and put down a cover crop. We've found dutch white clover or similar works best. It chokes out the weeds without stealing nitrogen. Leaving it dirt invites disease and pests. Plus constant tilling means by year 2 or 3, you'll be hitting the rhizomes and stressing the plant.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

All of the string Line hung up this weekend after 2 days of work and 200 dollars worth of string... Almost all of the columbus are coming up, a good amount of williamette are coming up, while only a few of the centennial and cascade are popping up so far.

 

[PleasantValleyHops]

All of the string Line hung up this weekend after 2 days of work and 200 dollars worth of string... Almost all of the columbus are coming up, a good amount of williamette are coming up, while only a few of the centennial and cascade are popping up so far.

$200 worth of string. Is it laced with gold?? Thats alot for twine. Where are you getting this from. Let me know if you need more man. I will have some for sale. Since i bought a bale of coir