Thanks to everyone who helped out with planting the hops on Saturday including:
- Josh Soboleski
- Darryl Moffitt
- Charlie Rohwer
- Beckie Sweeny
- Steven Shoemaker
- Renea Sweeny
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Before dividing up for rhizomes, 1 of 2 Cascade hop plants sprouting. |
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Perle making its way up before being hacked up for rootball cuttings. |
Matt
ReplyDeletethanks for the hopyard design another question-does in matter in which direction the hopyard faces ie: south, south-east etc and does prevailing wind direction come into play?
Greg
@Greg - yes row direction does play a huge role in the design of a hopyard which relates to wind direction, getting enough south facing sun, erosion and others. In the case of the Simple Earth Hops hopyard the direction of the rows were also determined by the grade or slope of the land. In farming (whether in your home garden, on small-scale commercial operation or larger) the direction of the rows typically should follow the contour of the land. This is huge and plays a large role in preventing erosion. The Simple Earth Hops hopyard is located on a slight grade (something like 6 percent at the most) so we positioned the rows to flow across the hill, not cutting through it.
ReplyDeleteWind is also huge, you need to be able to balance having enough wind by taking advantage of the winds ability to keep your plants dry while also not positioning your end row where it will act like a sail in the wind.
The hopyard should naturally be located where the south facing sun will get to all your plants.
Cheers