I thought I was done for the year, but those Cascade hops keep coming. Looks like I can get another ounce or two off the bines before I clean them up. I planted the rhizomes in the spring of 2009 and got a small harvest last year. This year they went crazy.
In mid-July I was starting to have a whitefly problem and there were tons of hops ready, so I cut the bines all the way back – leaving just a few new shoots. I harvested over a pound of Cascades from the cut bines, which yielded a little more than 4 ounces dried. By August, they were back up to the roof and setting more cones. In September, I harvested another pound or so. Tragically, I did not tend my drier well and that batch got moldy – had to toss ‘em.
In October, I cut them way back for another harvest. The Cascades yielded another 5-6 ounces dried. The Nuggets were much less prolific throughout the season – only got about 4 ounces total. My first batch of homebrew made with all homegrown hops is fermenting now.
