Racing the Hops

OilMan has always wanted to grow hops. We couldn't grow them in our shady postage stamp sized back yard in Berkeley. None of our children were interested. Nobody really understood why he wanted to do this, so they didn't pay much attention to him. A beer lover all his life, he has discovered since moving to Sonoma County a number of artisan brews made within 20 miles of where we live. Many years ago he and a friend decided to try their hand at brewing beer and purchased large pots, strange packets of hops and barley, informative books and a number of thermometers which I suspect they took borrowed from work and set about turning my kitchen into a brewery. Our daughter made a label for their product which they called "Mousehead". They never got a batch that that was better than the local supermarket variety, and an alien yeast began to contaminate their product, so they were quite happy to give up on the idea, but the thought of hops continued to fascinate OilMan.

When we decided we needed an arbor for some shade on our upper terrace with a wonderful view, and David said he had some hop rhizomes, a dream was born. Plans were drawn up for the arbor and David brought over several big buckets full of his rhizomes, presumably resting below the surface of the dark heavy earth, for there was no sign of them. Within days, however, they began to break the surface, and we had to go in search of pots to plant them in. Once planted , they began to climb the stakes in the pots like Jack's beanstalk and the pressure was on to build an arbor for them before they outgrew the stakes.

Grond was broken on Monday when four holes were dug for the corner posts and filled with concrete. Today, despite a dispiriting drizzle which would turn into serious rain every once in awhile, the arbor began to take shape. It's not quite finished yet, but OilMan now has his framework upon which the hops can grow, since they have already grown up the stakes he put in the pots. I'm sure that while the easter bunny is hiding eggs, OilMan will be placing the pots and stringing the strings for the hops to grow on. He has realized a dream although I'm not quite sure what it is. Perhaps he and David will decide to make beer. I hope they do it at David's house....