After the long winter nights have passed, and the sun has returned to London the sights of spring are all around us. Daffodils, crocuses and in my garden the first spears of my hop plants. This hop plant is into its third year in the garden. This year the early growth has been really vigorous as it is now well established - so many spears! Last year there were 4 spears. Although i harvested 60g of wet hops from this plant last year, this is the year when it should really come into its own and produce a decent crop.
Its a First Gold plant - an English hedge variety which means it should spread well across a fence - and in my case I want to trail it up and over the fence to soak up the sun on the other side.
I have also put a cascade root into the garden on the opposite fence this year, so it has very slight growth so far but the prospect of having my own cascade hops to brew with was too good to turn down.
I made a beer with the green (ie fresh and un-dried) hops last year - it was okay, if a little overly herbal. I think that owed more to my poor brewing than the hops. I'll have another go in September, and by the looks of it with a bigger harvest to play with.
No comments:
Post a Comment