More food crops around the yard

Most of our readers are probably familiar with the unusual weather we've experienced this spring, and some may have first-hand knowledge of its effects on different crops.  I was especially concerned about our cherry tree as it bloomed in March, about a month earlier than normal.  Our temperatures were especially warm through much of March, but the inevitable freezes hit again in April.  Since our cherry crop was reduced at least 95% last year due to freezing, I was anxious our experience would be similar this year.

As you can tell from the photo above, we have a crop!  The blossoms had faded and fruit was beginning to form by the time the freezes hit our yard, so apparently the fruit is more robust to cold temperatures than blossoms are.  The crop appears to be about 70% of the size of a bumper crop, but we're grateful for even a harvest of that size.  We're hopeful the fruit will continue to mature without further damage from weather or pests.

The hops also got off to an early start this year, reaching heights by the middle of April that required almost three months longer last year.  As you can see in this image, the freezes damaged many of those early leaves, and even killed off the central leaders on many of the longer bines.  Because many of those early bines were stunted, I've allowed additional later bines to continue to grow in case the early ones die off.

Amazingly, some of those early bines are already producing cones in May.  We didn't see cones until late July last year, so I'm not sure if this is a consequence of a stunted bine, or an early start.  Regardless, the bines in general are more abundant and vigorous than last year, so it should be interesting to see if that correlates into cone production.

Finally, a stop at the raspberry patch shows some promise of fruit as well.  I haven't watched this fruit develop in the past, so I can't comment on how it's progressing relative to other years, but we are understandably hopeful for a decent harvest.  Thanks for visiting!

Hops harvest

You probably noticed in the last hops post that I'm cautiously plodding through my first try at growing this crop.  Harvest has been proceeding just as tentatively as every other part of this experience.

I'm drying the cones in a very simple-technology manner by spreading them on a window screen that has been stapled to a crude wooden frame.  That rack is a few feet off the floor in the upper level of our barn, an area that is typically warmer than outside, especially on hot, sunny days like the ones we've had lately.  The picture above shows the first small batch of Cascade cones freshly picked and slightly dry off the bine.

So far the cones have dried to a very dry and papery state in three days or less.  The image above shows the second batch just before I moved them off the drying screen for bagging.  Even though we've got plenty of Cascade cones to harvest, they are so lightweight that a full gallon weighs well under a pound.  I'll have to get the scale out some day soon and make an official weighing.

In an attempt to keep the lupulin fresh until it's time to use it, the cones are placed in Ziploc bags with the excess air squeezed out, and stored in the freezer.  My expectations for the harvest have changed dramatically since the cones first began appearing in July.  There are MANY more cones than I anticipated, and plenty in various stages of ripeness still on the bine.  Unless something unforeseen happens to them, the two Cascade bines should produce several gallons of cones.

The Willamette bines, on the other hand, appear to be finished after producing less than a quart between all four bines.  Perhaps with a bit of loving care on the rhizomes this fall and next spring, we may see better results next year.  As it is, I'm plenty busy with the two Cascade bines, and would probably be overwhelmed if the Willamette were as productive.  Feel free to stop by if you'd like to see the plants and process first-hand: tours are easy to schedule, and if you're good, I may even give you the opportunity to harvest a few hundred cones.

How do you know when your hops are ripe?

That's the question I've been Googling lately.  Having never grown hops before, I'm a bit nervous about harvesting at the right time.  Fortunately, there's a lot of information on the internet, and some of it appears to be helpful.  If nothing else, here are some shots of our Cascade hops this week.

I promised last time to include a ruler in a photo, and as you can see above, the largest hops are just under two inches long.  The cones seem to open up as they ripen, which seems to coincide with good lupulin production in the cone.

This is the most-heavily-laden bine, with what I think is a pretty good crop.

One of the tricks of determining ripeness is to break the cone open to observe and smell the lupulin inside.  Can you see the yellow powdery substance near where each leaf attaches at the center of the cone?  That's lupulin, or what we're trying to obtain from these hops.

The aroma of the lupulin was very strong when I held the cone close to my nose.  Each member of my family described the smell differently, describing it as pine, lemon, box elder bug, mint and generic green plant.  Internet sources call for a spicy, citrus and pine smell, so I think we're pretty close right now.

This is the same cone after drying indoors for two days, and photographed with the macro zoom feature on my camera.  I don't recall if the lupulin changed much over the two days, but zoomed in like this, it appears more crystalline than powdery.

This image was taken with the camera shooting into the eyepiece of our stereo microscope set at 30x magnification.  The lupulin is definitely there, and appears even more crystalline at this magnification.  Most of the cones were not as ripe as the cone pictured here, but harvest appears to be just around the corner.

Hops cone development

When we last reported on our hops plants about four weeks ago, the bines were almost at their full length, and the cones had just started to appear.  What a difference a few weeks makes!  The cones are developing nicely, and although they are smaller than I expected, many of them are approaching full size.

This gives you a little perspective on size.  Next time I'll try to remember to include a ruler in the photo.

This shot better illustrates just how many cones are developing on the Cascade bines.  Unfortunately, the Willamette bines are showing a distinct paucity of cones, although plenty of foliage.  I don't know if that reflects a difference in each variety's time to bear fruit, or is a reflection of the general health of the bine.  When I planted the rhizomes, the Cascades were noticeably more robust.

It appears that we will at least have a good harvest of Cascade this year, and maybe next year will be more fruitful for the Willamette.

Hops on the bine

You might remember a previous post that showed a healthy sprout that was new to our yard.  That sprout was one of six hops rhizomes planted in mid April, and all six have been growing steadily ever since.  The two plants on the left side of the photo below are the Cascade variety, and the four on the right are Willamette.

The Willamette rhizomes were more dormant than the Cascade when planted, and have lagged in growth so far, but all the plants appear healthy and vigorous.  I've had to prune several sprouts so that each rhizome only has two or three bines left to grow, and several of the bines have lost their leading central stem and have adapted by pushing lateral branches upward.  I've followed the common practice of stretching a wire for the bine to grow on, and it didn't take much coaxing to get the plant to wind itself around the wire clockwise while climbing ever higher.

This photo shows one of the Cascade plants that is over 11 feet long.  Cones have developed in the last week, but the main bines continue to stretch forward and shoot out branches.  None of the Willamette plants are displaying cones yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if they popped out in the next two weeks.

Here's a zoomed-in view of a few of the cones in an early stage of development.  Dozens of these little flowers have emerged in just a few days, and I anticipate it will be entertaining to watch them grow and develop.  I'll do my best to document as much of the cone development as possible.  Thanks for visiting!