"Karl S." <null_dev@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:oWSKd.1322$cl1.231@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...[color=blue]
> SkiB wrote:[color=green]
> > "Derric" <derric1961@removethis.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> > news:slrncvl84m.nj8.derric1961@bhm29.hiwaay.net...
> >[color=darkred]
> >>>... I'd like to find more information about how
> >>>one might go about growing their own hops-- ...
> >>
> >>Start over at: [url]http://www.freshops.com/[/url]
> >>They have a pretty good "Hop Growing" section and you
> >>can buy from them in the spring.[/color]
> >
> >
> > Thanks, Derric. Indeed-- lots of good info there.
> >
> > BTW, cite below is from an interesting article I came upon which painted[/color][/color]
a[color=blue][color=green]
> > pretty bleak picture for anyone contemplating playing around with hops[/color][/color]
as[color=blue][color=green]
> > any kind of realistic cash crop. <g>
> >
> > Published 10/31/04
> >
> > ... Last week, the Oregon distributor, Freshops, was selling regular
> > varieties of hops at the retail price of 63 cents an ounce. Premium hops
> > were retailing for 75 cents an ounce.
> > That means that Perry's five pounds would cost today between $50 and[/color][/color]
$60,[color=blue][color=green]
> > depending on the quality, which boils down to between $2.10 and $2.50[/color][/color]
per[color=blue][color=green]
> > man hour and far below the minimum wage level of $5.15 per hour.
> >
> > To pick five pounds in Vermont with labor paid minimum wage would cost
> > almost $124, or twice the premium retail price delivered from Oregon.
> >
> > Wilson doesn't grow and harvest his hops at the Norwich Inn for profit,[/color][/color]
or[color=blue][color=green]
> > necessarily to improve the quality of his beer. He does it for fun.
> >
> > "It's really fun to watch them grow. They grow about a foot a day.[/color][/color]
That's[color=blue][color=green]
> > pretty neat."
> >
> > [url]http://www.vnews.com/10312004/2037563.htm[/url]
> >
> >[/color]
> I live in Yakima,WA., a hop-growing region, and the hop farmers seem to
> be getting by somehow. They set up a trellis of what look like
> half-height telephone poles strung together with steel cable, and every
> year they hang lengths of twine from that cable. The hop vines grow up
> the twine and are harvested by cutting the twine down into a truck,
> hauling it to the processing building and tossing the whole pile into a
> machine that shakes the flower-heads off.
> It's a little more man-hour intensive than growing potatoes, but five
> pounds of potatoes won't bring you $50-60.
>
> For the small amount of hops a home brewer would use, the cost would
> mostly be the time you spend puttering around in the garden.[/color]


Having dug more spuds than I care to remember-- your point is well taken.
<g>

I'm definitely going to take a crack at growing hops this spring and think
it would fit nicely into my regular gardening routines.

Having done some searches I see there's a real wealth of information out
there ranging from large, commercial hop growing/harvesting operations to
very small hobbyist gardens.

As with any of the many veggies I grow, by the time they're at their peak
ripeness, I could drive down to the local farmer's markets and buy produce
quite cheaply. But would the market produce be as good? As good as something
you plant and take care of for weeks/months on end until you can finally
stroll out and pick-- just before dinner? No way! Looking forward to doing
the same with some hops plantings.