As I have mentioned in earlier posts, the land on which we are going to plant the hops has not been farmed in over 14 years. During those years, a crop of young scrubby pine trees have self propagated. These trees are the offspring of the larger pine trees in the background of these two pictures.
These trees had to be removed. The wet and rainy spring allowed for easy uprooting of these trees. (With the help of our "workhorse" Ford tractor). I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for our ancestors when they originally cleared this land a 150 years ago with only a team of horses and much larger trees to deal with.
Across the meadow, behind us the test row we planted last year is beginning to "wake up"
It is time to push away the straw which blanketed the rhizomes over the winter.
There are purple shoots coming out of the ground. This is very encouraging.
Meanwhile, back in our green house, the rhizomes we planted are beginning to sprout as well.
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