Growing Hops

This weekend I planted three Centennial hop rhizomes.

I’m apparently planting late in the season, and I definitely don’t have a green thumb.  But, I like the thought of brewing up something this fall using fresh hops grown in my own back yard, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I planted the rhizomes in a 30″ pot with a tomato stake, along with several other produce items in their own pots.  Our family decided to plant a vegetable garden this year, but since this is only our first full summer in our new house, we decided to keep it simple with a container garden.  So on the patio we now have five pots, one each of strawberries, tomatoes, zucchini, rosemary, and of course Centennial hops.

It was such a great afternoon with the kids–so much enthusiasm, not just for going elbow deep in dirt, but genuinely for handling plants that they realize and trust will yield some of their favorite foods in a few weeks and months.

I hope my hops take off, and I am fully prepared to add structure and support as they hopefully climb far beyond the 36″ of this tomato stake framework.

I will update here as things progress.