Interested in hops? Yes, I was, because of the rich and fastgrowing leaves. Then I talked to my beer brewing neighbour and he had a completely different interest in hops – he wanted it for beer brewing. So we knocked our heads together and decided to have a joint hop project, where I would enjoy the hop leaves and he would harvest the hop flower. In January this year he ordered four roots of Cascade, a hop sort used for beer brewing, from England. He trusted me with bringing up the plants, while he has no experience in gardening.

I was a bit nervous to be granted this honor. Would I succeed? Our winter climat is rather tough and I have no green house. Well, interest and energy got me going, and I tended to the baby plants in my living room like they were my very small children.

After three months indoor, it was time for the now 6 inches tall plants to be acclimatized. I carried them out on the veranda every day and brought them indoor for the night.

Beginning of June was the time for planting outside, in the garden. The neighbour only wanted to tend for one plant, the other three were in my care. Earlier that spring some neighbours had cut down young birch trees, and I asked if I could use them to build a special hops structure of my own. I used four trees, put them two and two in the form of a V and turned them upside down, then attached strings to them. Before my inner eye I saw a rich, secluded area with a bench, where I could relax and enjoy a cup of coffee.

As you can see from the photos, this first year the plants are rather delicate. Beautiful, but not so filling in the structure. I don’t think we will have hops this year, but everyone in the hops business tell me the year 2 or 3 I will enjoy the richness of the hops. So patience is the most important ingredient in this business, it seems. The bench is there, and I can still have my coffee. But secluded … Not at all, yet. The third hop I planted in a pot on the veranda, and with protection from wind it grew a lot faster than the two down in the garden. Interesting to see the difference.

Anyway, a whole new world opened up with this hops planting. Neighbours I have never talked to, suddenly stop and discuss hops planting and beer brewing. Since the hops structure is right by our entrance, everyone passing can watch the growing from close distance. And guess what – my favourite farm in the US, Skanda Equine (www.skandaequine.com) is starting a hop growing business! I like that very much, will be fun to share experiences.

Enjoy the photos and get inspiration – and perhaps a future homebrewed beer 🙂