Ah, the harvest

​
​This is my favourite time of the year on the farm.
​
Just shy of a decade ago when we ventured down the path of growing hops, the buzz around local hop yards was at an all time high. Supply to neighbourhood breweries fell well short of demand, and everyone was talking about the importance of sourcing local ingredients. It was exciting. And as I look back I realize a big motivator for us to jump into this industry was to see a product that we worked so hard to grow be relatively quickly integrated into a beer that we, and others, could enjoy.
 
And enjoy we did, as the brewers we’ve had the pleasure to work with have done some amazing beer-things with what we’ve been able to supply.
 
The harvest is a culmination of many weeks and months on the farm, marked by busy periods where we string the yard and train the plants. We walk the yard almost daily to scout for pests and disease, head down to the pond daily to start the pump to irrigate, fix things when they break, keep the plants fuelled by granular and foliar nutrients, spray when we have to, find new ways to stay ahead of the weeds, fix more things. 
 
And the harvest is this intense, amazing time when it all comes together and you have a small window to pick the cones, dry them, get them pelletized, and then package them for eventual delivery to the brewery. Nothing beats the smell of hops during and after the harvest. And dare I say enjoying the beer that is the culmination of all of that work. 
​

A glimmer of hope for hop growers?

References:

logo evolution

     Our original logo (left) was developed for us in 2012 when we formally launched our hop yard venture. It has served us very well over the years by prominently displaying the beloved hop cone amongst the name Lot 17 that signifies our century farm land designation in Northumberland County.
     As our business evolved, we decided to introduce a new logo (right) that places that same hop cone in the back of our 1967 D200 Dodge pick-up truck that has been a bit of an icon on our farm and somehow starts up without fail every spring, ready to go to work for us. We also wanted to better emphasize that we are a 'hop producer' and differentiate ourselves as Ontario growers. 
     Our new logo was designed by Rachel Lin, a graphic designer in the Ottawa area who has been an absolute pleasure to work with. Her skill speaks for itself. You can check out her website at http://rachellin.ca/ 

At last - the cones are here!

     As we approach mid-August, our hop plants are transitioning from burrs to cones and beginning to develop the yellow lupin near the lupin glands in the hop that we value so much. Here are a few photos of our Cascade cones, which should be harvested at the end of the month.

Our quest for an automated
​irrigation system

     In the middle of July and during a heat wave, having an irrigation system to drip feed water to hops on a daily basis is paramount. Our system was a few years in the making, but we now finally have it up and running. That's to the credit of Fred (aka Dad) who worked tirelessly to oversee the project to completion. And this automated system would not have been possible without the support of Northumberland Community Futures Development Cooperation (NCFDC) to help us obtain grant funding. Their expert assistance and a lot of hard work on the farm has allowed us to take one big step forward in producing the best local hops possible.  

Why should a brewer pay more for Ontario hops?

​​Great Ontario Hopped Craft Beer Competition (GOHCBC)

     To kick off 2019, we are excited to team up with Church-Key Brewing Co. to participate in The Great Ontario Hopped Craft Beer Competition. The competition will be held at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls on Wednesday 20 February during the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention and brings together Ontario brewers and hop producers to showcase beers crafted in our region. This year's style is a New England IPA and thanks to John's innovation at Church-Key will feature our hops harvested in September 2018.

​Our harvester has arrived

     This week (2 Aug 18) we received our Hopster 5p from ​HopsHarvester LLC. We've spent a lot of time researching the best harvester for our size of operation and are excited to incorporate this machine into our line up given the flexibility to harvest where and when we like. The machine is extremely well manufactured and we'll look to post lots more images and notes when we start running it in a few weeks.

Beer School

     We received an invitation to join a panel of producers (Barn Owl Malt, Escarpment Labs, Ironwood Organics, Dominion City) for an information session dubbed 'Beer School' to speak to our experiences growing local ingredients for beer making. It was a great event during Dominion Day celebrations (Canada Day) at the Experimental Farm in Ottawa. Here are a few excerpts of the points we made regarding the importance of local:
  • If you buy a beer that has Ontario or locally sourced hops, you are sending a direct message to brewers that ingredients are important, and local farms are valued.
  • The hard truth is that it’s not viable to produce small-scale hops at market commodity prices, so brewers who work with Ontario hop growers have an opportunity to spend more time educating their consumers as to how this adds value to their beers (value proposition).
  • There's a story to be told with each ingredient and beer that highlights what our region can produce and the value to strong grower-brewer relations.
  • A wise brewer once told us, “grow what you can grow well, and we’ll find a way to brew something great with it.”
  • Local is hand delivering the hops after harvest, touring the brewery and sitting down for a few pints to chat about the season. You can’t do that when you buy from a broker or online.

2018 expansion

     ​I've always found it interesting to see the eternal optimism of a farmer. Despite a horrible year in 2017 where we lost our entire hop crop, we've elected in 2018 to expand our yard and confront the elements, pests and disease states that haunt hop growers. You see - we decided that if we truly want to grow hops that will meet the needs of our brewers, we need to start getting serious about growing a suitable quantity and purchasing the right equipment to do the job right.
     One of the commitments we've made this year is to plant clean plant stock in a new section of our yard where we are improving our trellis design. That's the bulk of the work we are tackling this week as we finally enjoy some good weather.
     So far this spring we've already been challenged with quack grass in our rows, what we believe is a flea beetle eating plant folliage and the discovery that several of our mature plants did not over-winter well and the rhizomes rotted. Thankfully we've been able to apply some products to assist with these pressures and had some plants in the ready to fill in the empty spots in our rows. 
     The adventure continues... More updates to come.