New Blog

Check out my progress on my outdoor fireplace. Doesn't really pertain to beer/brewing/hop growing....but it's gonna be freaking awesome!!!!

Hopdate 2.0--Bug solution+

Bugs

The four I originally bought (two cascades, a mount hood, and a sterling) have become an aphid feeding ground. I've researched some organic remedies for this, two require constant work and one enable me to work less. I'm going with that one because I'm lazy. The solution? Ladybugs :) $7.99 for 1500 aphid eating Ladybugs. The only problem is: if they eat all the aphids and there is no food left for them, they fly away and I have to buy more. I'm ok with that.

Growth

The original four are nearly to the roof gutters, which I wasn't expecting so early. I have a couple of options now. I could let them grow up the roof, but I'm not too excited about climbing up the roof to check on them. Or I could make some sort of extension above my roof, but I'm not too excited about having to work on something (second reference to my laziness...I may have to admit to having a problem)

Also, I've bought another hop verity: Brewer's Gold. I really like this hop and have used it in my ESB, the Wee Heavy I made, and my Creepy Crawly. I also may add a fuggles plant if I can find it.

Lastly, I have decided not to harvest the hops, which would entale me cutting the vine down, drying the hops, separating them into bags, vacuum sealing, and storing (okay, I admit it...I have a laziness problem). Instead, I'm going to use fresh, wet hops when I brew.