We came home from a 4 day camping trip to Robber’s Cave State Park Oklahoma . Which by the way is beautiful! The farm got 2 and a quarter inches of rain while we were gone. Things grew like crazy.
Read moreKansas Cascade
Turnips in the Alley
Broadcasted some turnip seeds into the alleyways. They seem to tolerate the hot dry weather. Will eventually be tilled into the soil as green manure/organic matter. But for a few there has to be some good turnip recipes out there??
Read moreFirst to the top!
First to the top-wire is our new Columbia Hop row! Columbia seems to be a great Kansas hop. The sun and warm air has done them all wonders. Been working hard on the new Triumph hop rows. They took a
Read moreSpring Peas and Cow Peas
A mix of spring and cow peas are in for the hop lane Spring cover crop. Fergus (border collie) is inspecting my work. Not a totally smooth day. We broke a planter part and snagged a few strings. The planter
Read moreKansas Hops Article
Brianna Childers wrote a nice article in the Topeka Capital Journal about Hops and Malt production in Kansas. Check out her story at https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/2021/04/24/kansas-farmers-putting-hops-into-crops-defying-odds-heavy-soil-barley-brewery-beer-oregon/7285044002/
Read moreStringing the Hop Yard
I had wonderful help hanging hop coir. Elsa said it was the perfect Saturday for a “farm girl.” About half of our 4 acres are strung!
Read moreReady for cover crops!
Side project has been getting this old JD planter functional. Definitely didn’t attempt to make her pretty this round, but after a lot of cleaning and an alarming amount of new parts, I think she’s mechanically sound. She will be
Read moreSoil Amendments
Working hard on our soil, especially correcting pH. We’ve made some solid improvements with the help of @midwestlaboratories and @agritec.international. Part of our plan to produce high quality fresh hops. Just don’t make fun of our modern, high tech spreader.
Read moreTriumph Hops
Elsa and I got a load of compost on our two new rows of Triumph hops. Looks like they are starting off their second year strong. Excited to have this new hop variety to offer.
Read moreExperimental Beer!
One Fall evening I was walking through the hop yard with my good friend Larry. He picked a hop cone and said “smells great”. I thought he was crazy. The hops were all dry and brown. He was right the
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