A trip to the Big Hops Farms

With the rhizomes planted and nothing better to do while waiting for the hops plants to sprout, we left Michigan for a week of family vacationing in the Pacific Northwest. We attempted to climb to the rim of Mt. St. Helens on the eve of the 30 year anniversary of it's eruption.

Then we did some hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park.

Then we visited the Haystack Rocks coastal region of Oregon.

Then finally...we visited two major hops farms south of Portland Oregon.

Goschie Farms, Near Silverton Oregon
Rogue Farms, near Independence Oregon

We studied the trellising systems and irrigation systems they had established. We took lots of pictures and scribbled lots of notes and measurements. We also noted that the hops plants in those fields were at least a month ahead of ours in size and growth.

Now back to Michigan to check on our baby hops plants (hopefully) and to set up a trellis system for our first year plot.