What's Hoppening: Musings from the Hopyard! http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin A UVM blog Mon, 13 May 2013 15:54:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Hops Crowning Video http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/05/13/hops-crowning-video/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/05/13/hops-crowning-video/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 15:54:28 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2806 Here is the link to the hops crowning video :

Crowning is used as an early season preventative measure against downy mildew.  In this video,  Dr. Heather Darby describes what downy mildew is, and some warning signs to look for when evaluating your hop plants.

Unfortunately, we did recognize downy mildew on some of our plants while  scouting last week.  It appeared in both plants that were crowned and controls. shortly thereafter we sprayed the yard with an organic fungicide as a tool to hopefully slow or cull the spread of the pathogen.

We’ll keep you updated as the season continues. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance.

Keep Calm and Hop On

]]> http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/05/13/hops-crowning-video/feed/ 0 Be on the look out for Downy Mildew http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/05/10/be-on-the-look-out-for-downy-mildew/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/05/10/be-on-the-look-out-for-downy-mildew/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 20:15:20 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2802 Get on your IPM scouting hats — the forecasted weather over the next few days is prime for outbreaks of downy mildew! So, scout your hops plants and be prepared to treat them. For a reminder of downy mildew ID and management, visit our factsheet: http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/DownyMildew.pdf

]]> http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/05/10/be-on-the-look-out-for-downy-mildew/feed/ 0 2013 Hops Data Collection Booklet http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/05/01/2013-hops-data-collection-booklet/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/05/01/2013-hops-data-collection-booklet/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 14:02:22 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2797 Greetings Fellow Hoppers,

Now available is a 2013 Hops Production Diary. This booklet can be very helpful in tracking patterns and practices in your hopyard. It’s a great way to keep all your information in one place; from field history, to scouting, to a page for every variety, and much much more! Our goal is to eventually compile all of this data in order to further our understanding of hops production in the Northeast– so at the end of the season we’d love to have a copy of your notes. The results will be in aggregate, so all individual information will remain anonymous. You can stop by our office in Saint Albans to pick up a hops diary, or call (802) 524-6501 to request one via mail. You can also print one off using the link below, although this method will not get you a diary in booklet format.

Link: http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/Hops-Book-Cornell.pdf

In other news, we shot video of the crowning process at our research farm last week. The video is in the editing stage, and will be made available in the near future.

Keep Calm and Hop On

]]> http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/05/01/2013-hops-data-collection-booklet/feed/ 0 It’s Hops Season! – Early Season Checklist http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/04/17/its-hops-season-early-season-checklist/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/04/17/its-hops-season-early-season-checklist/#comments Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:50:31 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2792 Greetings from the UVM Extension NW Crops and Soils team!

It’s that time of the year again. Our hop plants are officially up at the Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, VT. If you haven’t already, now might be a good time to start compiling a list of  supplies, as they will become useful during early May in this area. The supply list below is generalized, and every item may not be necessary for your specific operation.

Early Season Hops supply list:

  • Fertilizers/Pesticides/Fungicides
  • Hop clips and rope for training the bines
  • Irrigation equipment
  • Weeding supplies- for rota-tilling/mulching/hand-weeding/steam-weeding
  • Equipment to aid in crowning

On another note, we will be crowning our plants this year for the first time. We didn’t crown the first few growing seasons, in order to allow our plants to grow to their full potential. However, now that our plants are established in their third year, we believe crowning will be a useful preventative measure against early season downy mildew. Crowning will take place later this week, and will involve cutting the top half inch off each bine. A more in-depth video and article of the work is soon to follow.

Please do not hesitate in contacting us with any hops-related questions or comments!

Cheers!

 

]]> http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/04/17/its-hops-season-early-season-checklist/feed/ 0 Frost seeding http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/28/frost-seeding/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/28/frost-seeding/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:42:37 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2788 Frost seeding can be a good option in Northeastern hopyards.  Establishing a solid intercrop can help keep down weedy species, and in the case of legumes, can add fertility to your soil.  Frost seeding should occur  in the early spring when the ground freezes at night and thaws during the day.  While frost seeding can be done over a thin layer of snow, it is best to seed it into a field where you can see bare soil to ensure good seed-to-soil contact.  The freeze-thaw cycle will cause the seed to fall into the cracks in the soil and germinate.  If there is rapid snow melt, however, it can wash the seed right off of the field.  Red and white clovers will work best in your hopyard as they germinate quickly and at cool temperatures.  They should be seeded at 2-4 lbs/acre.

Our very own Dr. Heather Darby wrote an article about frost seeding into hay and pasture land, and the principles are very similar for implementing in a hopyard.  To read the full article, please click here.

]]> http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/28/frost-seeding/feed/ 0 2012 Hops Variety Trial Report http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/28/2012-hops-variety-trial-report/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/28/2012-hops-variety-trial-report/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:10:53 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2784 Greetings,

We are excited to announce that the variety trial report developed from data collected in 2012 is now available!

It’s long, but there’s a lot of really good information in there, including yield comparisons from the first and second year of harvest, brew values for the 19 publicly available varieties in the UVM Extension research yard, the results from some extensive scouting, and the impact of pests on hops.

In other news, I, Rosalie Madden, your resident hop expert and blogger, am heading East for grad school, and today marks my last day working for UVM.  Someone equally (if not more!) pithy and knowledgeable will be taking over What’s Hoppening and the hops project at UVM Extension, and I encourage you to send hoppy inquires to the What’s Hoppening email address.

Happy Hopping!

]]> http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/28/2012-hops-variety-trial-report/feed/ 0 2013 Rhizomes http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/25/2013-rhizomes/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/25/2013-rhizomes/#comments Mon, 25 Feb 2013 21:18:35 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2776 For those of you who missed the Northeast Hop Alliance bulk rhizome purchase, there are still quite a few options available. Our website maintains a list of sources from where you can purchase hop rhizomes. Here is a run down of some places:

Applegate Hops, OR. Certified organic rhizomes: Cascade, Centennial, Sterling, Nugget and US Golding. $2.50/rhizome, or $2/rhizome for orders over 500. Website coming soon! In the meantime, to place an order, call 541-899-9144 or email Applegate Hops

Aroostook Hops, Westfield, ME has Nugget rhizomes for sale. At this point, they cannot do any large bulk orders (i.e. more than 100).  Check out their website for pricing and availability.

Blue Ridge Hops in Marshall, NC has USDA certified organic hops, and are selling Cascade and Nugget rhizomes.

Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn, OR has 10 varieties available, and their best wholesale price is $1.20/rhizome (orders of 300+).  They have a pre-order deadline of March 1st, after that date, pricing and availability are subject to change, so act fast!  Their website is geared more towards homebrewers, so if you want bulk wholesale quotes, they suggest calling them at 503-982-5166, or sending an email.

Main Street Homebrew Supply Co., Hillsboro, OR also has a wide selection of rhizomes and some pretty reasonable prices.

Northeast Hop Alliance and Cornell Cooperative Extension – Live hop plants. Alpharoma, Cascade, Centennial, Fuggle, Liberty, Newport, Perle, Saaz, Sterling, Teamaker, Ultra, and Willamette are being sold in 4.5-inch pots, and can be purchased for $5/plant, with a minimum of 30 plants/single variety. These plants are propagated from cuttings of virus-free stock purchased from the Washington State Clean Plant program. Live plant cuttings such as these are free of latent hop viruses and mildews. This is the best way to guarantee that you will start your hopyard with disease-free stock. Deadline to order is March 15th!

South Royalton Market, South Royalton, VT – Contact Scott for pricing and available varieties.

Sunnybrook Farm, Middlesex, VT – Certified organic rhizomes. Cascade, Centennial, Willamette, Kent Golding, Mt. Hood, and Magnum available for $4\each (plus shipping). Minimum order of $20.  Email Sunnybrook Farm, or call 802-310-6031.

Do you have rhizomes that you have harvested from your hopyard that you are interested in selling? Please feel free to post on the Vermont Hops Google Group (the group is not limited to Vermonters) or email me, and I’ll post it here.

]]> http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/25/2013-rhizomes/feed/ 0 Register now for the 2013 UVM Extension Winter Hops Conference! http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/05/register-now-for-the-2013-uvm-extension-winter-hops-conference/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/05/register-now-for-the-2013-uvm-extension-winter-hops-conference/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:59:14 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2764 Seats are filling up quickly for the 2013 UVM Extension Winter Hops Conference!  Don’t delay, this event usually sells out!  February 22nd will be a day jam-packed with hoppy information, you don’t want to miss it.  To register, please follow the link: http://www.uvm.edu/extension/hopsconference

 

 

 

]]> http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/05/register-now-for-the-2013-uvm-extension-winter-hops-conference/feed/ 0 Maryland Hop Conference! http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/04/maryland-hop-conference/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/04/maryland-hop-conference/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:49:47 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2756 The love of hops is spreading like wild fire!  The University of Maryland Extension and the Maryland Chapter of the Northeast Hop Alliance are excited to announce their first annual hops conference: Growing Hops in the East!!  Click on the link for the full itinerary of this exciting day!  This conference is designed for anyone growing hops, or interested in growing hops commercially, brewers, educators, and other industry professionals.  UVM Extension’s Agricultural Engineer Chris Callahan will be there representing our team.  Space is limited, so be sure to register as soon as possible!

 

 

]]> http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/04/maryland-hop-conference/feed/ 0 Potted Hop Plants Available for Purchase http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/01/potted-hop-plants-available-for-purchase/ http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/2013/02/01/potted-hop-plants-available-for-purchase/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:32:07 +0000 hoppenin http://blog.uvm.edu/hoppenin/?p=2749 Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County in collaboration with Zerrillo’s Greenhouse is pleased to offer 12 different varieties of hops plants grown from first generation cuttings of virus-indexed stock purchased from Washington State’s Clean Plant Program.

Varieties available include Ultra, Fuggle, Alpharoma, Teamaker, Cascade, Newport, Liberty, Willamette, and Perle.  These plants will be sold in 4 1/2 inch pots and can be purchased by the tray. Quantity discounts are available. Sterling, Centennial, and Saaz will also be available in smaller quantities. The minimum order is 30 plants per single variety.  Please note that quantities are limited!  Orders are being filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

The deadline to order plants is March 15th, 2013.  For more details and an order form, please click here.

Questions?  Contact Steve Miller, New York State Hops Educator or call 315-684-3001 ext. 127

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