A new hop growing season begins. In this area hop stringing has just started. I love this fresh ‘new-page-in-a-note-book’ feeling, with the accompanying expectation that as a new hop growing season begins, this is it, this year there’ll be a perfect hop crop! Of course we know reality will not be like that! Each season always turns out to be very different to the last one and just when you think you have things sorted, along comes a completely different set of problems to keep everyone on their toes. But just for now we can dream a little, it will all be perfect!
Hop string soaking before being put on wet. If it was put on dry it would stretch when it rained.
Bines have been cut off and burnt up, winter wire working is complete, allowing this tentative beginning to hop stringing. This job is weather dependent therefore can continue in fits and starts over the next 3 months. Banding follows on as soon as each garden is strung. Below the first strings silhouetted against a wintry sky.
Stringing at A Bushel of Hops will not get underway until after this year’s new varieties have been planted. The screw pegs will go in as each hop sett is planted, each screw peg is needed to be in place before any string can be put onto that garden.
What makes this crop so exciting is within 6 months these plants will emerge from the bare soil, they will grow to 16 foot and be harvested. Zero to hero!
Having seen them available on supermarket shelves I found it was super easy to grow them at home and have them ready to cut as required. Simply buy a pack of any dried marrow fat peas normally used for making soup*, I soak a good handful for about 5 hours, then sow them thickly onto fresh compost in any handy sized flower pot. They want to be just below the top of the pot and by having the seeds touching each this seems best for a good density of shoots. But really adjust to suit your own preferences. Cover with a thin layer of compost and tap the pot on the table to settle the contents and that’s it.
reinforcements were called for, after all taste is subjective and we all have own favourite styles. January 5th was designated as ‘B’ day for Richard, Danny and Doy to come along after work, not that they needed any encouragement! Appropriately they arrived straight from the hop gardens after a day of winter wire working. It was already dark when they arrived bringing with them a waft of that lovely ‘cold outdoor’ smell as they entered the warm kitchen. No cups of tea were on offer that evening, the beer was at the right temperature, and we were eager to start.
that were broken during hop picking, to checking all running wires, bearing wires, curbs and anchors. Sections of wire that have become slack from the weight of the crop can be tightened and individual broken wires replaced. Whilst 
A few winters ago while moving a pile of wood, underneath I found this perfectly preserved skeleton, by it’s size I presumed it was a grass snake. Although I am not keen on snakes, as this one couldn’t move it was fascinating to examine closely. It was flawless and I am pleased to say it eventually found a good home in a nature cabinet.
However, the bare-bones I most enjoy are our trees in winter when leaves have fallen and they can reveal their basic structure. Silhouetted against a wintery sky and surrounded by plants laced with hoar frost, I love a proper winter.
Autumn in the hop gardens, 
Winter wire working repairs have already started but that is for the next post.
It is perfect weather to be outdoors. Last weekend we made time to brew up a cup tea over a fire. Even a simple toasted sandwich tastes so much better outside. Watching the blue wood smoke wafting up through the autumn tree canopy while waiting for the kettle to boil, I could understand a little the significance of Japanese tea ceremonies. The only trouble was the watched kettle boiled too quickly!
