Bernie Brewer
Grouchy Old Fart
Just sitting here letting my feeble little mind wander and wondering why I am not growing my own hops. Well, I think i am finally gonna do this. Keep in mind, I am NOT a green thumb. I have killed spider plants!
I took a walk around my property today trying to decide the best place to plant. I could plant in the back yard- it is right next to a farmer's field and gets plenty of sun in the afternoons. Problem is watering. It is waaayyy too far away from a spigot to be able to give any water.
Then I considered planting right next to my house, and running strings from the ground up to the soffit. It is around 15-18 feet from the ground to the apex of the roof, so it should be tall enough, no? My concern here though is moisture- would the moisture from the plants introduce mold and mildew to the siding (vinyl) and possibly rot out the wood underneath? Would I need to keep the strings any distance from the house???
When is a good time to plant? Up here in WI we can get frost well into May. Does that even matter? Any growers here in WI care to chime in with what types grow best around here? I would like to grow Cascade- from what I have read that seems to be a good all-around hop for the US. Also MT Hood would be nice, but I have not found any info on this one....
Yes I did search, but as I said I am not a green-thumb, I know nothing about growing things, so any help is appreciated. Thanks!
I took a walk around my property today trying to decide the best place to plant. I could plant in the back yard- it is right next to a farmer's field and gets plenty of sun in the afternoons. Problem is watering. It is waaayyy too far away from a spigot to be able to give any water.
Then I considered planting right next to my house, and running strings from the ground up to the soffit. It is around 15-18 feet from the ground to the apex of the roof, so it should be tall enough, no? My concern here though is moisture- would the moisture from the plants introduce mold and mildew to the siding (vinyl) and possibly rot out the wood underneath? Would I need to keep the strings any distance from the house???
When is a good time to plant? Up here in WI we can get frost well into May. Does that even matter? Any growers here in WI care to chime in with what types grow best around here? I would like to grow Cascade- from what I have read that seems to be a good all-around hop for the US. Also MT Hood would be nice, but I have not found any info on this one....
Yes I did search, but as I said I am not a green-thumb, I know nothing about growing things, so any help is appreciated. Thanks!