Hops - It's Not Just What The Easter Bunny Does

Hopys (Humulus lupulus) Hops The only place I know in the area where wild hops appear every year. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hops (Photo credit: Scout Seventeen)

I am excited to finally be able to grow a plant I have long admired but never had the room for - hops!

Husband is excited too as he wants to start brewing his own beer, with fresh (or freshly dried) hops from our own yard.

I don't drink beer, but I do like to take cheesecloth bags of dried hops and sew them into sleep pillows. The scent of the flowers is hypnotic.

Hops needs plenty of room - during the active growth season (from early May to mid-July) hops can grow as much as a foot per day. By the time the flowers are ready to harvest, you may have a 25 foot long vine.

When selecting a site, be sure that it has plenty of vertical space, direct sunlight for most of the day and easy access to water.

Hops likes a rich, neutral soil so be sure to fertilize the site with plenty of manure or compost.

Hops needs a strong framework on which to grow. You can tie and grow the vines along fences, build a framework or trellises, or use the side of a building strung with heavy-duty twine for support.

At Rainbow's Acre, we're planning to grow hops alongside the wall of the garage (which is oriented to the southwest).

Plant hops rhizomes as early in spring as possible after the last frost. Mulch deeply to retain moisture. When the vine reaches about  a foot in length, choose 2-3 of the strongest shoots and start training them up your trellis or framework. Trim back any side shoots to keep the plant strong and healthy.

The flower cones are ready to harvest when they feel papery and light. You may want to wear gloves while harvesting as some people are sensitive to this plant. Cut cones from the stems to avoid damaging these fragile flowers.

Cones can be used fresh or dried. The drying process can take a few days, depending on the method you use. Be sure that the cones are thoroughly dry before storing them though, or you'll end up with a moldy mess.

Would you try growing hop vines?

Related articles

• Growing Hops: How to Grow Hops Organically (growinganything.com)
• How to Homebrew Beer (answers.com)
• Brew Your Own Beer (answers.com)
• Beer #20 - Dixie Slow Brewed Beer (dumideas.wordpress.com)
• The Gift That Keeps On Giving: A Home Brew Kit (redenvelope.com)
• Old Wood From 1924 Hops Warehouse Hops Into Local Breweries (prweb.com)
• Hops Webinars Crannog Ales (farmmarketing.wordpress.com)
• Hop Garden: Early Spring Update (March) (beaconhillsbrewhouse.wordpress.com)
• Brewing Up a Community Hops Webinars (farmmarketing.wordpress.com)
• The London Hop Shoot Festival (thefoodielist.co.uk)
• F Is For Fenugreek (beingagreenmama.blogspot.com)
• Fresh Hop (Great Divide Brewing co.) | TheBEERSgoneBAD #105 (thebeersgonebad.com)
• How well do you know your Beer ! (bhaveshdalal.wordpress.com)

Growing Eggplant Is (Almost) Easy

Three varieties of Eggplant (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Italian Eggplants; Melanzane italiane; Italienische Auberginen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thai eggplants at a market in Guam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Aubergines from http://www.usda.gov/oc/photo/98c0468.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Eggplant, aubergine, when I was little I knew them by their Hindi name - baigan. Whatever name you call them by, they're delicious.

Eggplants come in a wide array of sizes, shapes and colors from creamy white to shiny black, purple, red and even pink. It would be easy to grow a rainbow garden using nothing but different varieties of eggplant.

But to tell the truth, eggplants are not that easy to grow. Honestly, they can be downright difficult.

If you happen to live in a warm, humid area with long summers, you'll grow eggplant with ease.

For those that live elsewhere, let's just say you'll have to make some accomodations if you want to be successful.

South Dakota has the blazing summer temperatures that eggplants thrive in, but we lack the humidity. I used to stubbornly try to grow eggplant every summer, only to end up with spindly, weak fruits on plants that bolted.

I realized I had to give in and admit I couldn't meet the high water requirements needed to grow eggplant.

I did not give up though. After doing some research, I found that there are miniature varieties available that do not need nearly as much water as do the full-size fruits.

Mini eggplants only reach about three feet in height, making them perfect for small space, urban or container gardening. 

Children love mini-eggplants too, not only because of their kid-friendly size but also because they are nearly seedless and have a skin so tender you don't need to peel them prior to cooking.

One of the most important things to successfully growing eggplants is site selection. Choose a site that gets a lot of sun during the day, is sheltered from winds, and has deep, fertile, well-drained soil.

Raised beds in sunny, sheltered locations are excellent for growing eggplant, provided that you mulch the bed deeply to retain moisture around the roots.

If you live in a less than ideal climate, you have a few options. Either grow eggplant in a greenhouse, in raised beds under floating row covers for the first month, or in black pots (which hold heat better and will raise the temperature of the soil by as much as 10 degrees).

No matter which of these methods you choose, you'll want to start eggplant seeds indoors or buy starts from a nursery. Plant the starts or seedlings outdoors well after the last frost.

As an alternative (especially if you're growing in pots) set the plants outdoors during the day and bring the pots indoors during cooler nights. Eggplants need evenly warm soil in order to thrive.

If you've survived all of this and find yourself with a plant full of baby eggplants, the next difficulty is figuring out when to harvest. Take note of the "days to harvest" listed on your seed packets, count the days out on a calendar and make a notation to start checking the fruits about a week prior.

Harvest too early or too late and the fruit will taste bitter. Generally speaking,the fruits are ready when they reach 4-5 inches in length. If your fruits start looking dull, they're overripe and will taste bitter and be full of seeds.

Eggplants are best eaten fresh, although they can be pickled. If you want to move past eggplant parmesan, try baba ganoush (a delicious eggplant dip), grilled eggplant, or eggplant lightly sauteed with extra virgin olive oil and basil clipped fresh from your garden.

And enjoy! You've earned it.

Have you ever tried growing eggplant?

Related articles

• Growing Eggplant: How to Grow Eggplant Organically (growinganything.com)
• Easy Eggplant Parmesan (spicesandspackle.com)
• Stuffed Eggplant (seekingjoyfulsimplicity.wordpress.com)
• Baked Aubergine (3dhealthforlife.wordpress.com)
• Baba Ghanoush (eggplant dip recipe) (apocketfulofnotes.com)
• Mideastern Roast Eggplant (bookcasefoodie.wordpress.com)
• Recipe: Roasted Eggplant Salad with Smoked Almonds & Goat Cheese (thekitchn.com)
• Baba Ganoush (and fewer seeds in your eggplant) (plantbasedparadise.com)
• Eggplant Parmesan (divainthakitchen.wordpress.com)

Green Mama Is Going Country!

Working in the Garden (Photo credit: Chiot's Run)Well friends, it looks like our days of urban farming in a rental house are coming to an end. No, wait, this is a good thing - we're in the process of buying a house! A house on an acre of land just outside city limits, where the Green Mama and her family can garden in a much bigger way than we have been.

We call the house Rainbow's Acre, a name inspired by our six-year old daughter whose favorite color is rainbow. She is a rainbow! I'll post some pictures of the rainbow girl so you can see what I mean.

We think the name fits well because we plan to squeeze as much diversity out of our acre as we can - no monoculture here, we plan to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs and nuts in every hue.  Oh yes, and chickens too. With bread baked in an adobe oven.


I'm excited and happy to share our plans with you as  they unfold. We close on the house in two weeks, after which you can expect to see us going to work. It's spring in South Dakota, the perfect time to start making our growing dreams a reality.

Now that spring is here, what are your gardening plans? I'd love to hear about them!

Related articles

• Workshop: Growing Edible Perennials (socialactions.net)
• Environment: Chef Janie's Vertical Edible G... (altenergyshift.com)
• Into the woods: Seattle plants a public food forest (grist.org)
• What is a Food Forest Garden? (livingmandalacollective.wordpress.com)
• Smart city governments grow produce for the people (occupymonsanto.wordpress.com)
• 3 Books to Help You Grow Beautiful Edible Gardens From Yard, Deck, or Rooftop (treehugger.com)
• Could City Hall Soon Be Surrounded By Citrus Tree Groves & Edible Gardens? (laist.com)
• Incredible Edible: 'It's not all about free food' (guardian.co.uk)
• Spring is springing (greenphonebooth.com)
• How a Garden Builds Real Community: Edible Bus Stop (sustainablog.org)
• Growing wild edibles (greenreview.blogspot.com)
• Edible landscaping sprouts beyond the vegetable patch (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• A Book that aims to bring the farm to the city (theglobeandmail.com)
• School hoophouses: a great addition to the edible schoolyard (winterbounty.wordpress.com)
• Learn Urban Organic Farming at Atherton Mill March 20 and 21 (carolinalearning.wordpress.com)
• Billeater: Get Your Garden Growing (savings.com)
• Interview with Gayla Trail: On Small-Space Gardening, Herbs, and Edible Flowers (treehugger.com)
• Urban Farm Tour (socialactions.net)
• Turning Vacant Lots into Profitable Urban Farms in Minnesota (treehugger.com)

Growing Vegetables on the Homestead

Image via WikipediaAre you interested in growing your own vegetables? Welcome to the club! There is a growing movement of people who are growing their own produce.

There are many reasons for this, including the desire for affordable organic foods, to step away from the "factory farming" model which gives us few choices and has an enormous (negative) impact on the environment, to bring food dollars home, or simply to be able to savor fresh, chemical-free, homegrown vegetables again.

Across the country, people are growing their own food in pots on the patio, in raised beds in the back yard, in plots at their local community garden or on the windowsills of their apartment.

Young and old, urban and rural, people are flocking back to edible gardening. Ready to join the movement? Read on here

Related articles

• City Permaculture..how to Get Stuck In.. (thefreeonline.wordpress.com)
• How to Start a Community Vegetable Garden (angelbabe432.wordpress.com)