Hops! Way back in the spring Dan dropped by with an envelope containing three sandwich bags, each holding what appeared to be a wet stick. No tentacles or roots, just a stick. He tells me, "these are hops! they're going in your backyard." Being the beer enthusiast that I am, as well as having a newly constructed garden, I figured it was the least I could do. So, after putting these sticks in the ground, I diligently watered the mounds of dirt, making sure the soil was not too wet nor too dry, and picked off weeds as they laid siege to our sticks and hoped that some day they would either decompose or yield fruits.
Well, it's September and I have to say I'm shocked. Dan and I picked the ripened cones from the vines tonight and my house now smells like a wonderful, semi-sweet brewery. We ended up with a small amount of Magnum, a moderate amount of Centennial and much more Cascade that I expected. We're even drying the poor cones struck from their homes last night in a freak (and entirely terrifying) hailstorm that threatened to break our windows. Seriously, the garden dirt looked like a blackish-pesto of miscellaneous plan leaves. I'll have to poor one out for the shredded pepper and basil plants after this.
Well we'll see how these go and soon there will be a home brew experiment with our harvest!
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