Hauling hop trellis poles

Thanks to Brad Butnik at the WI DNR, Simple Earth Hops acquired a permit to cut and remove 30 black locust hop trellis poles. These black locust hop trellis poles where hauled out of the woods in Avoca, Wisconsin on Friday, April 2, 2010 thanks to the support of an awesome crew including: Beckie Sweeny, Bob Matts, Darryl Moffitt, Greg Erickson, Larry Hale, Roger Reynolds, Todd Lippert Smith and Trey Matts. Then unloaded at the Simple Earth Hops hopyard in Dodgeville, WI.

Simple Earth Hops - Hop Pole Haulin

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!