New Trellis Design, Spring Hop Shoots, Cover Crops Emerging.

Welcome Back!  Happy Spring 2018!

The project is alive and well.  Much to my surprise, all 20 of my hops have sprung back to life and are growing vigorously.  There was concern that the south side of the plot with its clay, hard packed soil would have perished from the winter chill.

Clover has sprung up, barley is planted and sprouted, resowed again at the end of April.  Most importantly, my trellis structural improvements have been made with no minimal cost ($20.00 for bamboo poles and stakes.)

Take a moment to look at the pictures and don't forget to check out my presentation posted to Facebook, here on the blog, and the LinkedIn page.  Thank you for following along.

Email with questions or comments at elginhopsproject.gmail.com

As always, Drink Better Beer, Save the World.

The Elgin Hops Project: Regenerative Agriculture Presentation 2018

Year 1 Hops Project : Our hero barely escapes a crushing defeat and, in the process, learns something about himself, gets advice from a wise and mysterious elderly woman, then...Training Montage!

So, here it is , the big end-of-season article.  This is the article I have been promising since late July. The article I have been avoiding like a vegan food truck avoids setting up shop at a Florida Georgia Line concert.

My excuses are, many, varied, and all equally full of shit. I have been procrastinating at 6th grade summer school levels. I am sure the most understandable excuse is fear.  I am supremely afraid of writing all of this years' successes and failures down and watching as all the items on the "failures" list gang up and give my small group of successes swirlies in the gym locker room. However; the emergence of hop cones in the plot have given me the kick in the pants I needed to break my writing slump. Here goes.

Infrastructure

The trellis that I put in this year was insufficient. My biggest issue was verticality for initial growth of the hops, and sturdiness of my trellis and growth guideline support wire.

The hops were getting buried in cover crops early and quickly.  The cover crops were not crowding the hops by any means, but the cover crop growth was far more vigorous which caused two problems.  First, I was losing my hops in the dense mat of clover, turnips, mustard greens etc.which caused a huge headache when I had to find, disentangle, and then re-train my hops onto the line.  Secondly, sun was having a hard time getting to my hop leaves through a carpet of overgrowth.

Next year I am going to experiment with hardened bamboo to allow an initial vertical growth of 4-6 feet before letting the hops grow horizontal.  I think this will keep infrastructure costs down, while giving the hops a head-start against the much needed cover crops.

The next problem I need to address will be the trellis itself.  The nylon guidelines are....okay...but a better balance of fiber, strength, and weather resistance would be ideal.  Still working on that problem...coconut fiber? Hemp? Ideas are welcome folk...I'm all ears...eyes?

My wire setup (the wire that supports all of the guidelines) needs to be anchored more securely.  There may as well be duct tape holding it together.  Now, this doesn't mean more infrastructure.  The experiences of this year have taught me that wind, weight of the hops, and moist soil we not well-accounted for with depth of wire anchors and post holes.  Materials stay the same,  methods need to change, no extra cost.

As for other infrastructure,  I had none.  I used no irrigation, no apparatus for seeding, weeding, or spraying.  I used little to no hardware securing my trellis (two eye bolts, steel wire, aluminum stakes, and turnbuckle).

Planting

No more getting fancy.
I went a little nuts with planting this season.

After reading "One Straw Revolution" by Masanobu Fuokua prior to my project, I was convinced I could sow all sorts of vegetables amongst my brewing grains.  I thought to myself, "if my project is a failure, at least I could grow all sorts of food for my family this year."

While, this may work on the scale of several acres..with the odd cucumber, melon, or radish growing into a sizeable addition to a balanced lunch...it was a complete failure which I took much harder than my wife, to whom I gave promises of crisp spring onions, juicy summer watermelon, and hardy winter squash.  That shit needs a chance to get up to the sun.  Same problem with the hops, but at least I made the hops bright yellow markers to tell me where and what variety.  My poor food had no chance....except the turnips...I have soooooo many turnips.

Now, let's talk grains.  No more oats.  I have no idea how this happened....my oats got mixed in with my barley, and my barley was inundated with oats.  I distinctly remember separating the seeds and meticulously planting them on separate sides of the plot. Oats are out, I am simplifying the operation.  Less is more, and the less work I have to do, the more successful the project.  Harvesting was a nightmare....an itchy, stuffy,  miserable nightmare.  Has anyone ever seen the last half of the movie "Coraline"?  Like that, but with grains.

Last, but not least...cover crops.  Oh my god, OH EM GEE folks! Nope...nope, nope, nope...even hurts to type it.

I planted some gnarley stuff this year.  I think if it was closer, it would have dragged my house into the ground.  I'm positive that if I used Roundup tomorrow...the cover crops would laugh at me and give me a wedgie.  Thank jeebus I planted annuals.  So, the plan for next year is grains, clover and mustard greens (brassicas).  It'll stay low, give good cover, attract beneficial insects, and won't make me feel the need to kiss my wife and daughter goodbye every time I go into the backyard.

Successes:  the hops seem to have done just fine.  I researched planting and care for 10 minutes on a slow Saturday at the Fire Dept and all 20 rhizomes sprouted. Yay!

Care and Maintenance 

While researching care for hops plants, the were a lot of mixed views on water, sunlight, nutrient requirements, and pruning.  (Please let me know if there is a Definitive book on hops planting and care, that would be super duper) My mantra for the project continues to be "Simple is Best", or maybe "Cheap is Best" depending on the mood you catch me in...

That being said, I let the plants run wild.  No pruning, no watering, no fertilizer, no prepared compost, and let sunlight fall where it may (after hacking away cover crops every few days).  The soil remained moist beneath the cover crops throughout the hottest parts of the Chicago summer.  There was never a point where I was terribly worried about watering back there, maybe one or two days when some of the cover crop looked a little "wiltey".

I had also read that one was supposed to choose the hardiest shoots from the rhizome to train, and then prune any other shoots that emerge later in the season.  I chose to let any and all shoots emerge.  My reasoning is this, the more leafy surface area, the more energy being captured for the plant.  The more energy for the plant, the more stored for both the root system and, in turn, for the soil ecosystem.  Basically, I wasn't concerned about cone production this year, I just wanted the root system to establish itself as much as it possibly could this first year.  I have no idea if this work or not, but I tried it, next year I will prune half and compare.

Pests

Very early in the season I started seeing insects I had never seen before.  I tried to observe and identify as many as I  could.  I found that, including the noticeable increase in spiders (they were  everywhere  every time I took a step there had to have been 3-4 that scurried away), there was also the emergence of a variety of predatory beetles. I had very little issue with anything eating my hops. A few holes in leaves here and there, but no real damage.

Weeds

Again, the terrifying monster that I so naively referred to as cover crops, kept weeds to a bare minimum.  No issues with invasive weeds, even less of a problem after I mowed the cover crops 2 weeks ago and left all of that biomass in a thick layer over the soil.

I will repeat a piece of information I wrote about in earlier posts.  I believe this comes from Mark Shepard's "Restoration Agriculture".   To paraphrase, weeds are a product of poor soil.  Natural disturbances of topsoil, such as earthquakes, landslides, glacial movement etc. destroy established perennials and forested areas. The resulting exposure of rock, clay, and other harsh planting environments need "first responders" to repopulate the harsh environment.  This first response team is what we refer to as "weeds".  Hardy, resilient, with a tough-as-nails root system, and unparalleled seed distribution abilities.  Once weeds make the soil more habitable, the biome transitions into annuals, nad eventually perennials or forested areas.

Simply put, weeds should naturally recede  and be replaced by the products of healthier soil such as grasses, clovers, wildflowers etc. If the soil is continually disturbed, or the plants that would naturally inhibit weed growth are removed (weeding),then weeds will continually sprout up to do what they do best, attempt to rehab the environment.

Hop Growth

The results of letting the hops run wild  were varied.  As I suspected, the robustness of the hops seem  primarily tied to the soil.  The south side of my grass lawn  plot, when I initially tilled this past spring, was very hard, comprised of clay and a very thin topsoil.  The 10 rhizomes planted in this area, regardless of variety, grew anywhere from poor to fair, and from 1-6 feet in length.  Compare this to the north side of the plot where 3 of 10 have produced cones, and the shortest growth is at roughly 6 feet.

I was made aware by my house's previous owner that the ground  on the north side of my property had been tilled and covered in compost for the purposes of a large vegetable garden.  I noticed when tilling that area, the ground was much easier to turn over and plant.  The soil had a much darker, earthier color, and broke apart very easily in my hands.  I belive this aided in drainage, water retention, root establishment, and the health of the soil ecosystem that the south side of the plot did not have available initially.

Some of the most vigorous, healthy hop bines are located directly beneath by neighbors'  huge maple tree to the north.  I had heard that hops needed a ton of sunlight (8-10 hours daily? Fact check on that), but these ladies are 10-12 feet this first season with about 4-6 hours of sunlight daily. Perhaps sunlight affects cone production more than bine  growth?  Can I get feedback on that?

The final results of this first year are as follows:

20 rhizomes planted
20 rhizomes sprouted
20 rhizomes survived the year with no water, fertilizer, prepared compost, pest control, weed control.

8  hops grew to a length of greater than or equal to 12' and only 1 plant growing less than 1 foot.  This squirt was located in the southeast corner  of the plot, subject to poor soil, and quickly overtaken by daikon radish and turnips early in the season.

2 hops produced first year  cones (as of August 25, 2017), Cascade and Centennial.

Infrastructure held together, but needs some reworking.

No problem with weeds or pests

Hopefully my methods of growing large amounts of cover for the purposes of adding biomass, preserving moisture, attracting beneficial insects, and breaking up compacted clay, will increase soil health for next year.  I have no idea of knowing if this was a success or not, but now we have somewhat of a baseline.  I certainly have a lot of ideas for the direction I can take the EHP in the coming years.  One final note, part of this whole process of "carbon farming" involves grazing  animals.  I live in a city which does not allow them...and my wife vetoed rabbits for this first year....so my solution is horse manure from nearby farms.  I will spread it on after harvesting my winter wheat in late fall to feed all the wonderful microorganisms in my soil.  I hope  this can be an acceptable replacement for my lack of grazing livestock.


I hope this was a comprehensive summary for the first year of the EHP.  If you have any questions, contact me directly:

Facebook: @theelginhopsproject

Search for Robert Denwood on LinkedIn

Or contact me directly by email at elginhopsproject @gmail.com

As always, thank you for reading and following along,

-EHP

Year 1 Hops Project Thanks

I would like to first extend my gratitude to everyone who has given me support and shown interest in the EHP thus far.  The responses I have been getting have been wonderful and unexpected.  Most of the time I am gently resting my face in my hands trying to keep it together thinking that I am trying to break into the brewing industry by writing a hobby garden blog like some aspiring Novelist writing Avatar fan fiction.  So, the feedback I get from this growing community really helps to drive the project (along with the support of open-minded Wife and family members).  So, Thank You all very much, about to drop the "Year 1 Lessons Learned" article TODAY, and I hope you enjoy following along.

Follow me, Robert Denwood, and the EHP on:

Facebook: @theelginhopsproject

LinkedIn: search me, Robert Denwood

Email the project direct: elginhopsproject@gmail.com

Preview- Rookie Mistakes

It has been a long time since my last update folks. The hops are still growing strong. A new article is coming soon, I promise.  I will be writing about some hard truths I have come to understand in this first year of the Elgin Hops Project.  

The following are some of the topics I will be covering: Severe storms destroying grain crops, trellis improvement, finding out that planting cover crops which grow to 4 feet in 2 months right next to a diagonally climbing hops plant is a bad idea, learning about patience, the importance of planning for planting season, how easy it is for watermelon to get choked out by forage turnips, the value of knowing just how high certain cover crops can grow, learning some more about patience, reflections on the age-old question that plagues persons who turn 30, "Ugh...what the hell am I doing?"

No matter how many mistakes I have made this first year, all of the hops are alive, growing, and my soil is happier now that when we started.

Thanks for following along!

-EHP

The Mike Nowak Show! Thank You!

I'm on the radio, neat!

Check out the replay on the Mike Nowak Show Podcast.  Thanks for listening, following along, and giving me support!

-EHP

EHP mini-update for June 4th, 2017

Happy Sunday!,

Welcome back to the EHP.  Just a quick update on how the plot is doing and what we are up to today.
Grains are doing very well.  Barley and Oats are thigh-high to my 6'3" frame, the clover, daikon radish, and turnips have absolutely taken over.  I am super pleased by this but today I am taking my hand-scythe out to clear a little bit away around the hops.  This is as much  soil health as it is for my ability to more quickly locate and train the hops around the twine every couple of days.  It looks like we have indeed lost one of the hops, never sprouted.  One in twenty ain't bad so I am not discouraged, it was a willamet, the other willamette has grown quite vigorously the shadier side of the plot surrounded by the highest grain/clover growth. Another important note is the huge diversity of insects  that have moved into the plot.  Ladybugs, beetles I have never seen before, bees, spiders of all shapes and sizes, and all sorts of butterfly's. I expected this to happen, but it is exiting to observe it first-hand.  The aromatics plot did not do as well as I had hoped, but I believe that I sowed seed too early in the season for a lot of it to take hold.  That plot is thick with clover, bee balm, chives, dill, and a few others, but the lavender and sage have not made an appearance.  However; this does not seem to have slowed down the appearance of beneficial insects.  All in all, things are growing well considering the lack of work I have put into the whole mess.  I am really trying to find a buyer before the grains come in, if anyone likes to brew and is in the Chicago area, I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

Healthy soil, healthy beer, healthy planet

-EHP

Let's be the Shaquille O'Neal of farmers, not the M.C. Hammer of farmers...wait, don't go... please let me explain

I had fun with that title.

At long last, I have made time to sit down and speak with all of you.  Try to imagine you have walked in on me reading a classic novel, casually smoking a cherry-wood pipe in my jacket of crushed velvet.  I look up and smile, my roguish dimples dancing in the firelight. (I am nailing this writing thing.)  "Oh hello, I didn't see you there.  Please, have a seat by the fire".  Wink

"What's that?  The article title is inconsistently paired with my strange and Wilford Brimley-esque introduction?  Right you are reader!  Let me take your hand and help you reconcile these spinning inconsistencies with a simple, "No more fun, Let's get down to business".  Serious face.
Now seriously, let me explain the title to my 3 remaining readers.

I am writing, primarily, in response to a gentleman who made the statement (paraphrasing) "You are growing hops the wrong way, you will never be able to produce nearly enough to meet demand." The gentleman in question was commenting on my trellis system.  I assume also that he was questioning the profitability of a less productive method, which it is...that is to say if I was only growing hops.  Fair enough, now my response.
   
      The human race has become incredibly skilled at farming huge swaths of land very quickly.  Small corn farmer?  Not in my America.  We need big, beautiful tractors with huge tires and the best harvesting stuff that massive loans can buy.  The 40 acre diversified farm is a relic standing in the way of brilliant, powerful, throbbing progress.  The EPA, conservationists, and worker's rights can take a hike with the rest of those socialist bastards, we need food and we need it yesterday.

This, dear readers, is M.C. Hammer farming.  You just came out with "Hammer Time"  you feel invincible, parachute pants will never be hotter than they are right now, and you stared down Michael Jackson from across the champagne room, MJ flinched.  Farming is getting more streamlined, more efficient every year.  A single driver in a John Deer can do the work of a thousand laborers in a single day, all while in a comfortable seat with adjustable climate control.  The corporations that control the money flow of the industry will happily buy out surrounding farmland, crushing small competition and further expanding their operations.  Farmers, spurred on by parent corporations, are continually expanding their farms, buying more large equipment for planting/harvesting/processing/transporting/chemical spraying.

We, the consumer, the citizens of the world, have a TON of food because of this (mostly cows, cows are eating a lot of that food), like...6400 calories per person ton of food.  So yeah, it totally works!  However; like the Hammer, we just placed an order for our second helicopter, and we keep tearing up those nice notes sent to our $30 million mansion from the IRS.

The bubble will burst...the degrading soil will tell us when it has had enough.  Eventually, no matter how much fertilizer you use, no matter how many chemicals you manage to spray, if there is no life in the soil from decades of tilling, erosion, and chemicals, nothing will grow...the soil will eventually quit making us no longer legit, then we end up having to do promos for cash4gold.com alongside Ed McMahon.  Big monocrop farming does one thing extremely well, but like Mr. Hammer, has failed to plan for a future, blowing it's big paycheck as soon as it hits the checking account.

Let's all farm like Shaquille O'Neal

The guy has been crushing it for 25 years.  He hit it big and prepared for a long, successful career well-beyond his basketball stardom.  Movies, Video Games (anyone remember Shaq-Fu?), Music (Shaq Deisel...Google it), Television, Podcasts, Sports Commentating (Nobody rocks a Big and Tall aquamarine suit like The Big Daddy), became a fully fledged reserve police oficer for L.A. Port Police, and to top it off...I just saw him doing a promo for Icy Hot not 2 minutes ago.  He is the Morgan Freeman of sports heroes.

 My point in all this is: Diversification and long-term sustainability.  If Shaq had torn his ACL and not had music, commentating, TV gigs, investments...etc. The next time you would see him is on 30 for 30 talking about what it was like playing against Michael Jordan. If a 'this-timeline" Shaq decided to pick up farming after his retirement from life in the media, I guarantee the Big Agave (I promise you, that nickname for him exists) would run a diversified Restoration Agriculture farm.  If he settles in a tropical paradise, one day you could be eating a Shaq banana.  That's a world I want to live in.

So, yes, Mr. Internet Commenter, you are absolutely correct.  As of right now, there is no way a restoration Hop farm could compete with large industrial Hop farms to supply the ever-increasing demand for beer, craft or otherwise...yet.  However;  If we can make getting into farming less cost prohibitive, DIVERSIFY to make the acreage more profitable, focus on soil improvement, and keep sustainable practices, then why not start creating more jobs in small communities?  Farms that not only grow hops, but also: grains, nuts, berries, leafy greens, mushrooms, aromatics, supply seeds, incorporate cattle, fiber animals, and poultry all on the same acre.  Supplying the world's beer makers from thousands of small, successful, local farms focused on soil health and restoration rather than a handful of 500, 750, 1000+ acre industrial farms.  Think of the arable land that could be created to add to global food production.  Think of the carbon that could be taken out of the atmosphere and turned into a beautiful, black, living, beer-growing soil.  Think of the diversity of beer flavors attained through improving local water sources and soil in different areas of the world.  Think of the small towns that could be revitalized by getting back to their farming roots, healing the economy, health, and happiness of people across the globe.  This is not wishful thinking of some vague Utopian future, this can happen right now.  I tilled up part of my backyard to show how easy it is to take action this week, tomorrow, today.  Other people are doing this successfully as well.  It can be done, this is happening...why not add hops to the mix?

Farm like Shaq...not like Hammer.


Thanks for reading!
For more updates and other ramblings on sustainability and soil stuff from this non-expert, please follow along!

The EHP blog at:
 elginhopsproject.blogspot.com
My Linkedin page:
Search-Robert Denwood

or contact directly for questions and comments:
elginhopsproject@gmail.com

Better Soil, Better Beer, Better World
-EHP


 

Mini Update - Beer's Done! May-19-2017

I promised an article, and normally I would have gotten around to posting, but I have been working more than average lately.  However; I will give a small project (side-project) update this morning.  I have not gotten any bites from local brewers offering to do a side-by-side brew with store-bought ingredients and the brewing ingredients grown in the EHP.  So, I did it myself. I reached out to a long-time friend of mine who has been home-brewing for a number of years and we made a small 5-gallon.  I have no previous influence in brewing, so I came up with flavors I would enjoy and my friend said "yeah, that would totally work," which made me happy.  A 5-gallon of Chamomile-Honey British Ale is now ready to be kegged.  I'm calling it "Pinky-Lifter" (Beta) and when my ingredients are ready for harvest, we will be making the EHP version of the same brew for a little taste test.  My plan is to do this every year for the duration of the 3-year project to see if the flavor is enhanced as the soil improves.  Exciting, huh?  Either way, I'm sure it won't be difficult finding testers...

Thanks for reading and following along!
Catch the whole blog at elginhopsproject.blogspot.com

Contact me here or direct through email:
elginhopsproject@gmail.com

Better Soil, Better Beer, Better Planet
EHP

Update: EHP May 15, 2017 - - - Holy Greens Batman!

 The good 'ol EHP. A lot less patchy these days, eh?

 Here we have the Aromatics/Beer additives plot.  Looking good fellas!...ladies?

Here we have some thick, luxurious, all natural barley, turnips, clover, mustard greens Brussels sprouts...can anyone see "weeds"?  I haven't done any weeding, I promise.  I haven't done much of any kind of work really.

 

Food, Hops, beer grains, a diversified farm plot for little-to-no effort.  Make a little money?  Maybe.  Healthier than store bought?  Probably.  Save a bunch on grocery bills?  Definitely.

Seriously though...I don't think weeds are a problem for me.  All this stuff is edible or saleable.  How much time do you spend weeding?

Turnips!  Thanks Territorial Seed Company!

 

Firsthand experience....it tastes amazing.  I think I will eat some, give some to neighbors, and sell the rest.

Don't think I forgot the Hops.

Questions, Comments, or Concerns:

Leave a post and follow the project here on the blog.

Contact the EHP directly at:

elginhopsproject@gmail.com

or find me on Linkedin - Robert Denwood

Thanks for following along.

Better Soil, Better Beer, Better World

-EHP



Harnessing sun power to the max by layering and diversifying within your biome; or get more by growing stuff in top of other stuff, but only stuff that already wants to grow where you are

Was that title too wordy?


Hey folks! I've been teasing this talking point for a while now, and my house is clean, baby Ivy is upstairs sleeping like a champ, so I really have no excuses.  I may need fact checkers on this, I am going from my memory. Here we go.

So I was recently confronted with an interesting argument while having a friendly disagreement with a friend of mine.  It initially began as a discussion of the massive fossil fuel dependency that our current U.S. agricultural system relies upon (I think it was 13 percent of our total national dependence goes to chemical and fertilizer production). His argument was that percentage was tiny in comparison to shipping and transportation (I seem to remember a whopping 54%, again, fact checkers please).  I would think that ground shipping of human food products, animal feed, brewing products, corn for plastics, cotton for clothes.....etc, combined with the amount of cheap grain we send overseas by ship and air, not to mention the food products that are shipped sometimes dozens of times from facility to facility for further processing (look at the back of a kid's cereal box sometime), that this would also constitute fuel consumption by the agricultural industry, I am sure this is all lumped into the "transportation" category which looks a lot like commuter consumption to the casual reader.

My friend's argument pivoted to "How else are we going to feed 9 billion people, this is the way we have to farm or the population will starve.  This is how it has to be done."

Hold on, big breath in Ace Ventura-style.

Okay, there are roughly 540 million people suffering from true starvation conditions across the globe at this moment.  Compare this to the 1.6 billion people who are currently overweight or obese, and suffering from any number of related diseases from this excess.  The US produces roughly 6400 calories per person from the acreage which is currently in production. Where does all of that food go? Oh, yeah, our cows eat it.  Hundreds of thousands of acres produce animal feed....corn/soybeans. That produces a massive net loss of calories. Cows are not even supposed to eat corn, they are grazers, for grass.

My friend was still stuck. "No, you have to use fertilizer, you have to, it is the most efficient way of supplying food to large number of people". I don't think I was going to be winning over anybody today.  That's okay though! We didn't start screaming at each other, nobody left in a huff.  We are still friends. Yelling at someone who has different views and experiences is insanity, stop it, even if you agree with everything that I am saying, your Thanksgivings will thank you.

So, let's say that all acreage is used for human consumption.  The war was won, everyone is a vegetarian, the new national hairstyle is dreadlocks. (My wife is vegetarian and I have a very plant-based diet, no angry emails please?)  The way we grow is still super inefficient.  We could be using far less farmland and still be producing the same amount of food/products.  "Witchcraft!", you cry. (it's 1 in the morning, the dog started barking, pipe down).  I'm not communing with my Wiccan familiars, I promise.  There are real, proven methods for increasing output and using smaller acreage, and you still don't have to use any chemicals or fertilizer.

The method involves, once again observing the best farm on earth, the forest.  The idea is planting commercial crops in layers.  If you walk along a forest path you may notice plants of varying heights.  In the undergrowth you may find edible fungi. Then you have shorter plants comprising the forest floor.  These are interspersed with bushes and shrubs.  Then you have the mid sized trees and finally the largest growth, the cedar, maple, pine...whatever is native in your neck of the woods.  This is all dotted with vines of creeping plants using the larger growth as a trellis.  There are many layers of growth occurring very naturally all around you.  The trick, then, is to observe how you can utilize this natural growing behavior, and plant production crops accordingly.

A green plant is a complex machine for turning sun energy and atmosphere into food energy or calories. If you can, imagine a farm field as a collection of solar cells . The more surface area absorbing energy from the sun through photosynthesis, the more energy will be stored and converted. In this case, the conversion produces tasty things.  (Real quick so I can say it in a way that will make me geek out....A giant ball of nuclear explosions in space sprays our planet with energy and radiation, and our planet figured out a way to turn those explosions into radishes and flowers.  Isn't life fun!). So...if you maximize the surface area, you are maximizing potential for growth.

The easiest way for me to visualize this was given to me through Mark Shepard's Restoration Agriculture.  He states that a monocrop field where corn (and only corn) is grown is like a flat piece of paper.  If you plant in a layered polyculture (many types of plants in the same area), this would be like taking a lot of other pieces of paper, folding them into pyramids, and placing them on top of the original piece, thus drastically increasing the amount of surface area and potential energy absorption. The EHP is currently planted with, I think, Three (3) layers.  I recently had a brief chat with a Mr. Jesse McDougall of Studio Hills Farm in Shaftsbury, Vermont.  He and his wife are working on Seven (7) layers of planting! Wow!, that's neat huh? Jesse is a much more experienced farmer and writer than I.  I want to be him when I grow up.

So there you have it folks.  Less land producing more food.  Let's hope that its local and chemical-free! I hope it was as interesting and informative for you to read as it was meandering and difficult for me to write!  As always, feel free to send me any questions, comments, or skeptical concerns.  I will do my very best to respond quickly and courteously.  Thank you for following along with the project.  Have a wonderful day!

Keep following at: elginhopsproject.blogspot.com

Find me on LinkedIn: Robert Denwood

Contact the EHP directly: elginhopsproject@gmail.com

better soil, better beer, better health, better world
-EHP

EHP update for May 2, 2017

Update today! I know all of you have been on the edge of your seat.

The days have been a little wet...wet and cold...I am sure you have noticed.  The EHP has seemingly kept right on chugging. Every day looks a little bit greener, and even where I was most irresponsible in spreading straw (we're talking chunks of baled hay, big chunky chunks...hey you guuuys!), it doesn't seem to be affecting my seed and it's Kung-fu super sprouting action.  (Is this fun to read, or am I just making myself chuckle? Boy, that would be embarrassing). So far so good, and people are starting to take notice!

Ladies, gentlemen, the EHP had a very special visit from the Daily Herald!  Elena Ferrarin, writer for The Daily Herald, contacted me to do an interview, and this Tuesday May 2, 2017, yours truly and the EHP were seen gracing the local paper, spreading the word about responsible agriculture.  At least, I hope that was the message that gets through.  Either way, publicity! Yay! Very exciting, very promising....very handsome.

The project has also been contacted by several other interested sources for furthering goals of conservation and sustainability.  The response so far has been surprising, and quite positive.  So, a big thanks to all of you reading, contacting, commenting, collaborating, and caring about our soil.  If you are here due to the promise of local, cheaper, tastier beer, I applaud you as well.  My goals are your goals. Let's drink our way to a healthier planet, shall we?

Keep reading, I am doing more than updating today, a full post will follow

Keep following at elginhopsproject.blogspot.com

Or contact us direct with questions and comments:

elginhopsproject@gmail.com

better soil, better beer, better health, better world
-EHP

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Thanks, have a great day!

Thanks Daily Herald!

A big Thank You to the DailyHerald for doing a story on the Elgin Hops Project!  It is out in papers today: May 2, 2017.  Take a look, read and follow along at https://lnkd.in/evE7ZcS

Send the project any questions or comments at elginhopsproject.gmail.com

I will be writing about the idea of maximizing product-per-acre using a diversified, multi-level planting design very soon, or;  growin' stuff on top of other stuff real easy like in a forest and what not, stay tuned folks!

EHP Update- April 23 2017: Here Come the Hops!

The rapidly fluctuating temperatures have been making me nervous.  Most mornings I have been met with a solid frost warming to mid 60s by the afternoon. I was not sure how my rhizomes would do this early in the season.  If you remember, I planted all of my hops the very day they arrived at my doorstep on April 1.

I am happy to report that, of the 20 Hops in the plot, 19 have sprouted happy and healthy! I have a Mt Hood that I am hoping is just a little slow to start, but so far, so good. Keep following along with the experiment, send me any questions or comments, and as always, have a wonderful day!

-EHP

elginhopsproject.blogspot.com

elginhopsproject@gmail.com

This is gonna save you a lot of money, here is why.

I keep getting blank looks from people. Is it how I am phrasing the statement?  How much more simple can I make this?

My way is the best and cheapest.

I will put this into context.  I am growing beyond-organic, 100% chemical-free (not even "organic" fertilizers or chemicals) hops and brewing ingredients that help to restore the soil ecosystem, improve drought resistance, decrease erosion, improve the health and quality of everything that grows on the farm, saves the bees and other pollinators, helps to decrease the amount of greenhouse gasses in the air, improves water quality of nearby streams and lakes, and more.

And it will cost you less money to buy your products from me and farms that adopt this growing method.

I can hear your skepticism...it sounds like crickets.

Current growing methods use a combination of the following:

Huge, cost-prohibitive infrastructure
    -telephone-pole trellis and heavy guage wire
    -irrigation systems
Chemical inputs
- Nitrogen fertilizer
- pesticides
-herbicides
-fungicide
Huge machinery
- infrastructure installation
- harvesting
- cultivation
Labor costs
 -weeding
-machine operators
-sprayers
-harvesting
-processing

To name a few

My method:

Reduced infrastructure cost - no irrigation, modified trellis
No chemicals
Reduced machinery to just processing and drying the harvest
Reduced labor costs - only labor is initial planting, hand-spreading seeds once in spring and once in fall, and harvest time - no weeding or cultivation or spraying.

That's a very brief summation, but there you have it. A lot less cost and hassle for the farmer means cost savings gets passed onto the brewer, and that gets passed onto the customer.  Plus, the very important fact that no harm comes to the soil, every year the soil improves, becomes more fertile,and the product becomes better as a result. Boom goes the dynamite.

This project just got hop-pier (bah duh chh)

Hi everyone!,

For those of you following along with my articles, you remember early on (I roll my eyes momentarily as I remember I just started writing for the first time ever last month) I had talked briefly about grazing animals being a central part to my experiment method.  For those who do not wish to go back and read another article, I will briefly summarize.  Again, I want to state for the record that I am not an expert.  I will try to cover an overview but I may be missing some vital points. Please do not let that distract you from the message.  Feel free to use this as a jump-off point for further curiosity and to do some independent research.  I have previously mentioned Kristin Ohlson and her book "The Soil Will Save Us".  I would say this is a great place to start.

Utilizing grazing animals of all sizes can be of great advantage to someone attempting to improve soil health.  To paint a picture, free from human intervention, all types of animals graze on plant life.  The act of grazing does a few things.  First, after being damaged, the vegetation begins a cycle of exchange with beneficial organisms and fungi in the surrounding soil community.  Stored carbon sugars from photosynthetic processes are sent by the plant roots to feed the beneficial fungi, which in turn supply the plant with necesary building blocks to restore the growth of the plant.  The act of exchange strengthens every member of the soil community and helps to rebuild the the plant quite efficiently.

The act of grazing, especially by larger animals (think sheep, buffalo, even elephants) also acts to permeate the soil structure, aerating and tramping vegetation into the ground providing biomass to be directly deposited to the decomposers in the soil.  The plant life is only permanently destroyed if there is "over-grazing" which happens when grazing animals are confined to one area for an extended amount of time.  The idea is that grazers are prey animals, and in the wild, they would eat and then move on to the next water source, or just skedaddle because a pack of wolves was checking them out.  This is where rotating the grazing animals comes into play, but that will be for another post at another time.

Finally, if memory serves, grazing animal eat all that wonderful vegetation, maybe some insects, a grain or two, and it all needs to go somewhere.  How wonderful that they store some of it as energy for their continued good health, and then deposit the rest of it on the soil in the form of concentrated decomposer treats.  Yes, Poop!  A naturally grazing animal will undoubtedly supply your soil with wonderful, soil enriching waste material for the cost of nibbling on grass.  This is the real value of keeping animals for a self-sustaining farm, their continued contribution to the health of my plants and soil community.  Every animal you can think of suitable to farm life can be utilized as free labor for the improvement of your soil, and therefore, the improvement of the health of your crops - chemical free.  Also, makes the animals super happy to live normal lives.

So, without further ado, the Elgin Hops Project is getting rabbits!

"Rabbits?" You say, as you peer over the top of your sophisticated, yet stylishly-rimmed reading glasses.  "But I thought...the hooves...and the tramping...and"' I'll stop your skepticism there.  I live in  Elgin, which does not allow waterfowl (I wanted ducks, but alas), or any type of animal classified as a farm animal.  After some quick research, I found that rabbit poop (it's so much fun to write it, knowing someone is going to read it) is a highly prized manure and rabbits are relatively easy to care for and raise. I am taking it one step further with Angora rabbits.  I get free manure, rabbits get free food (I was growing plenty of forage within the hop plot as part of my polyculture mix before I even thought of getting grazing animals), and then I get to groom the rabbits every once in a while and sell the wool.  Side note: angora wool can also come from goats, but we're not there yet readers. Also, rabbits don't eat the whole plant, they leave a lot of the vegetation strewn about, contacting the soil, inviting decomposers to do their thing.  Perfect.

So rabbits it is, and the project setup is complete!  My rabbits will not be sold, my rabbits will not be eaten, my rabbits and all future animals will be kept healthy and happy for as long as they are willing.  Their value as a member of the soil improvement cycle will not decrease with age, and I have something against killing anything when I have plenty to eat.  Yes, readers, a future 100% humane farm with animals.  Now I have to figure out how to keep the hawks from eating my farm hands. Are you as excited as I am to see what is going to happen?  I will take your silence as a resounding "Yes".  Thanks for reading everyone, and have a great day.

Healthier Soil, Healthier Hops, Healthier Beer, Healthier Planet
- EHP

Feel free to contact the EHP via email:
elginhopsproject@gmail.com
and browse through earlier posts on the LinkedIn account
or at elginhopsproject.blogspot.com