Time for another update on this project. I'm seeing good growth now thanks to some timely rain and heat. We were almost a month behind ideal planting time due to the long winter and cold ground. Things started pretty slow and I used every trick I knew in the organic book to get this far...
That's strange isn't it? Nice setup you have there.
My hops are now completely rampant on a rustic pergola I built in the kitchen garden. I've done nothing for them this year, though as you can see, they are overcrowding the space, so I am prepping new ground and cutting poles so I can plant...
I would let them grow how they are this year.
Feed and water as you would any plant.
You'll see how the bines twist around each other and climb the supporting trellis.
For those who may be interested I've posted an update on this project on a new thread
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=537169
Is there a better thread to share this material?
Hi Mustard. I established six plants of Halertau and Cascade a few years ago that now cover a garden pergola and produce good hops each year. I also attended a workshop which explained the setup and operation of a small commercial hopyard in Vermont.
Here are a couple of things I've noticed...
This is an update on our organic malt barley growing project this summer in Eastern canada. The project is designed to prove our ability to grow barley for a local micro brewer. we hope to prove our ability to produce a crop that is:
1) Organic
2) Grown on half an acre
3) Managed with basic...
Well, a lot happened after my last few optimistic posts 4 years ago. And a lot of lessons were learned. I ran into a series of setbacks that were disappointing and left me feeling like I didn't have much to share here. But I did keep working on the problems. One of the things I found was that...
This is CDC McGwire, certified organic 2 row malt barley. We trialed this variety twice in small plots which I hand harvested. For the past 4 years I've been focused on learning how to plant and grow, harvest and store organic barley for brewing. I still have a lot to learn my goal this year is...
Yes! Thanks for asking. We planted about 1/5 of an acre of malting barley this spring from the seed we grew last year. We found that about 1/3 of our plot was not rich enough to produce a strong crop. But we did get another certified organic crop. We had a very wet, cool spring and the ground...
One other thing - DO talk to your local guy and contact your farm bureau about which types are grown for malting in your region. If he doesn't grow those types he may be able to help you order a bag of organic seed.
Generally speaking I learned that you can use malting barley for feed but probably would not want feed types for malting. ( I chose a 2 row type that works that way) Simply put, feed types were developed to convert energy into weight on livestock. They don't convert as well to malt for beer.