We grow our hops using organic methods - no chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides to worry about. We believe strongly in the importance of cultivating a good natural microbe and nutrient balance in the soil without chemical input.
We hand-pick and dry our hops, ensuring that the delicate lupulin glands
in the cones are not damaged and the highest oil content remains.
Increasingly, consumers are more and more aware of what they eat and
drink; where it comes from, what impact their purchase has on the earth,
and what chemicals they may be unwittingly ingesting. Brewing with
hops that are farmed sustainably by a small family operation using
organic methods can make a difference and help minimize your global
footprint.
We have experimented with many different things in the last three years of growing hops - some were successful and some were learning experiences. Early on in 2009, we fertilized our hops with lots and lots of rich and well-composted cow manure from a neighboring farm. Our thought was that the manure would serve a double purpose in also helping to keep weeds suppressed by covering the area between hops crowns. In practice, the manure produced lots of weeds, so in 2011 we used blood meal to add nitrogen to our soil instead.
In 2010, we experimented with planting annual cow peas between plants in some areas of our hopyard to function as a smother crop (for weed suppression) and as a green manure (to provide nutrients to the soil - cow peas are excellent nitrogen-fixers). We really liked the weed suppression results, but since cow peas are more of a southern crop and are susceptible to cold, we tried summer alfalfa for the same purpose in 2011. We also planted the alleyways between rows with a cover crop mix of buckwheat, alfalfa, and clover - hoping to see the benefits of nitrogen addition, weed supression, and beneficial insect attraction.
In 2011, we received a Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education) grant to investigate the benefit of adding drip irrigation to crop yield, as well as to test the weed suppression effect (and subsequent crop yield) of straw versus summer alfalfa used between the hops crowns. We are in the process of analyzing our data now, and plan to share the information and post our report on our website once it is completed.
So as the 2012 growing season approaches, we surely will experiment and learn even more as we expand by 2-3 acres of new plantings on our newly acquired land. We will keep you posted on our busy upcoming year as it unfolds!
