Simple Earth Hops SARE Grant Approved

We are proud to announce that Simple Earth Hops grant proposal which was submitted in Dec., 2009 has been selected for funding by the NCR-SARE (North Central Region - Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) program.

Additional SARE Grant Resources

• fattymattybrewing delicious SARE bookmarks
• SARE grant writing notes on fattymattybrewing.com
• 2008 NCR SARE Farmer and Rancher Grants Videos
• North Central Region SARE
• Other hop project grant funds awarded

Locally harvested black locust hop trellis poles

One of the greatest assets to living near the Wisconsin River - besides canoeing, camping, and swimming - is easy access to black locust trees. The sandy banks (read: exactly the kind of soil which black locust trees thrive in) of the Wisconsin River are completely covered in black locust forests.

Here are a few pictures of cutting the trees in preparation to move them from the woods and load them onto the trailer.

It's super exciting to cut the black locust poles ourselves for use on the Simple Earth Hops trellis!

Quarter acre hopyard location - aerial photograph

Thanks to Andrew and Jennifer Kerr at Greenspirit Farm, we have an excellent 1/4 acre hopyard located just off WI Highway 23.

This aerial photo shows a blue line around the 1/4 acre hopyard where we will be putting in 250 hop plants. This aerial shot can also be viewed on the Simple Earth Hops Google map which also shows our black locust pole harvest site and more too.