Weather is starting to take a turn for the warmer temperatures here in northwest Arkansas. On Monday I was delighted to find a gift in my mailbox from my awesome Aunt Pat. They were organic rooted cuttings (rhizomes) of East Kent Goldings (EKG) and Willamette hops. I wasn't prepared to plant them so the instructions said to tuck them into the fridge until the soil was ready.
Tuesday was even warmer so right after work I started figuring out how I was gonna plant these hops. Ashley and I love our current abode but in another year or two we will be re-evaluating and looking for more space. So planters were the obvious choice for right now. Once we get into a more permanent space I will be putting these hops in the ground so they can really establish themselves.
I wanted relatively shallow and wide planters compared to most of what you can find at your regular old hardware stores. But I found my self at that place that rhymes with 'blows' and was really happy to see that they were selling old oak half barrels. These babies led a previous life in whiskey distilleries around the country and finally were put out to pasture as planters. They wanted 29.99 per planter and, honestly, I thought it was a steal. Got three of them and the truck smelled like sweet bourbon on the way home (you could still smell it in the wood!)
I also bought several bags of top soil, mushroom compost, peat, etc. Tucked it all under my deck until tonight when I was able to get back to it. I drilled some holes in the bottom of each one and started filling them up with the soil. I had a cascade hop bine last summer that did pretty good in it's planter but I decided to pull it up and put it in a bourbon planter. Below is a pic of each hop variety...they are tough to see but from left to right its: Cascade (year 2...you can [maybe] see the roots are a little bigger and expansive than the other two varieties), EKG (second largest of the varieties), and Willamette (a little bugger but I bet its a grower!)
I got them all in their own planter and put them on the south wall of our house. Coincidentally this wall is also by far the tallest of the house with the highest point being probably 30 feet above the ground! I have yet to figure out my twine system but I still have several weeks to get that figured out, although all of the rhizomes are budding and looking ready to roll, so I better not waste much time.
At this point my only concern is that the Cascades will be negatively effected from being pulled up (gently!) and set back in fresh soil. Only time will tell, but we might have similar yieldings to last year as the Cascades fight again to establish their root system.
Hopefully this summer in NWA is not as hot and dry as last summer. If so, my hops might struggle in the daily beating hot sun.
All for now! Stay tuned though because after my wonderful wedding to my even more wonderful fiance I will be turning my eye back to brewing. My temporary hiatus has been good for my brewing libido and I'm ready to get some mash again!
