June 18, 2010

2010 Hop Crop Report (for my backyard)

First-year Horizon rhizome has sent up a single bine and is now competing adequately with spousal peony bush.

Sixth-year Centennial exceeding expectations, strangling hostas, and contributing to backyard hop farmer-spousal tension.

Sixth-year Liberty being trained into a canopy. We are a couple very short weeks away from being filled in enough to sit in the hopyard and drink beer in the shade.

Barely mid-June, and both Centennial and Liberty are already shooting out a profusion of well-developed cone buds - the earliest I've ever seen them form. Our early spring and cool, rainy start to the summer must be magical.

How is your hopyard coming along?

4 comments:

  1. Wow, yours are budding already..dang. I have Magnum, Mt. Hood, and Nugget 2nd year hops and although they are doing amazing compared to last year...no buds yet. All are about 10-20 feet tall depending on the plant and shoot. Hopefully this year I don't toast them in the fall with my fire-pit like last year. That was an unfortunate mis-hap.

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  2. No cones yet, but my 2nd year Chinook is really taking off and sending out side shoots. 2nd year Nugget is not quite as tall, but it's got plenty of bines growing. I'm thinking I'm going to get at least something this year! From Chicago

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  3. I have cones as well on my 2nd year Cascade, Mt Hood, Nugget and Wilamette, but they’re not as developed as yours appear to be.

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  4. First year Mt. Hood and Newport both have cone buds already. From Eastern Iowa

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