Hops adventure!

I am a fan of frosty beverages.  More specifically, the adult kind of frosty beverage.  Preferably one that is full of hops.  Perhaps a nice pale ale or IPA to get even more precise.  Just typing those words makes me thirsty.  The husband and I were looking for a new horticultural adventure and decided to try growing hops.  Hopefully, after all is said and done, we will utilize our harvest in one of our very own homebrews.  One thing at a time though, because there's a lot to do to get to that point.

Hops is a prolific vine, but it needs a little assistance from a trellis.  I chose two varieties of hops one of which (Cascades) we will grow on our front porch.  From ground level to the top of the porch it's at least 15-18ft which should allow a fair amount of room for the plants to climb.  Since these vines can become quite sizable, it is best to keep them separated if you care about distinguishing between varieties during harvest time.  So - we needed a second location.  We decided to use our back acre for something other than a giant weed patch and tilled a small section, 4'x12', for the second variety, Nugget.

We did a lot of research on hops growing and have decided to treat this plot as a mini-version of the standard used by the massive hops farms in the Pacific Northwest.  We obtained two 15+ft black locust posts from a friendly neighbor at the other end of the holler.  

Skinny sighthounds inspect locust posts.  Apparently they are very interesting.

These will be stripped and scorched on the bottom 3ft (to discourage rot) and sunk into the ground.  Before we do this, we will add hardware for wire to be attached and strung between the two posts.  We will run twine or coir from this wire down to the hops bines which will act as their support structure. 

We still have a ways to go, but in the meantime, I've started the rhizomes I purchased from Freshops in pots so they could get a head start.  

More hops growing progress to follow in the coming weeks!

New Chicks in the Flock...

A box of peeping chicks appeared at the post office yesterday!  I went in on an order with some friends last year from My Pet Chicken.  Arrival day finally came after what felt like eons of waiting.  We're still keeping our flock small but our current layers, a Speckled Sussex and a Light Brahma, are coming up on two years old.  They're still laying fairly well, but we wanted to get a new batch started so there's no lag time in egg production.

At the time we placed the order, our favorite of the two chickens, the Speckled Sussex, was a nice, laid back friendly girl.  We decided that since we really liked her, we'd get another.  Well, now that we've stopped giving them free range privileges, she's turned into a bit of a grouch.  Actually, her attitude seemed to change a bit before that.  We think there may have been a shift in flock dynamics.  We think she may have taken over the 'lead' roll in the hen house and thus lost her friendly attitude.  Really though, I think she's just P.O.'d that she can't get into my freshly laid mulch to take a good dust bath.  I hate doing it but perhaps we'll let them run free again after the growing season is over.

So, we got ourselves another little Sussex who I like to call 'Special'.  She's a loud, boisterous, rude little thing.  Her favorite activity yesterday was standing on top of whatever bird was conveniently located in her vicinity....and then talking about it....LOUDLY!  We'll see how this girl develops.   I think she's going to be a handful but she sure is cute.

Our other little lady is a Golden Laced Wyandotte.  Also a very cute girl (what baby chick is not cute?) and seems to be a little more refined than Miss Special.  Either way you slice it up, they're a ton of fun to watch.  Chick TV as they say.  I know the luster will wear off after a couple of weeks, but for now, I'm enjoying the ride!

Bloomin' now...

Baptisia

Iris

Saponaria

Iris

Chionanthus virginicus

Edible Landscaping

Last year, in an effort to save room in the garden patch for things that really needed to be there and be protected by the 5ft garden fence, I moved a few edibles to the landscaping.  Peas went at the front of the house in a perennial bed where the deer wouldn't dare to tread, and I had some containerized pole beans growing up a bamboo plant support at the edge of the driveway.  I also tried growing several types of gourds over the edge of our behemoth retaining wall that we expect can be seen from space.  Actually, it did appear on Google Maps recently - the retaining wall that is.

This year, I've broken the salad greens free from our vegetable 'jail' and I'm quite pleased with the results.

In previous years, I had these boxes filled with flowering annuals.  This year, we would be able to walk two steps out our front door and make a salad from them.  I asked the husband to add a few more boxes to the arsenal so we could have a good haul.  He graciously obliged and I dug out the purple paint to seal the deal.  The purple paint seems to be a reoccurring theme on our property.  The chicken coop is purple, the mailbox post is purple, the hammock posts are purple, the makeshift kayak rack is purple.  Good thing it's also my husbands' favorite color....but I digress....

The plants seem happy and healthy and they provide interesting color and texture to the front porch.  Dare I say, just as interesting as flowers?!?!  I planted them in Miracle-Gro Organic Potting Soil to keep things 'au naturel' and all seems well.  We've had a few nippy nights that have caused a bit of damage to the tips of the leaves, but otherwise, these little friends should find their way to our dinner plates soon!

The Biltmore....

Last weekend, my husband and I got 'out of Dodge' and traveled to a grander, more civilized place - The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

This was the home of George and Edith Vanderbilt which was constructed over six years and was opened in 1895.

The incredible landscaped grounds were designed by the father of American landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted.

If you plan to visit, there are a myriad of activities available on the estate grounds.  It's almost as if you need several days to enjoy it all.  Honestly, it's like Disney Land for adults.  A beautiful home which was way ahead of it's time in construction (it had 43 bathrooms!), a winery, shopping, farm animals, tractors, horseback riding, Segway adventures and the list goes on.  For me though, it was the amazing horticultural goodness that drew me here.  Most rooms in the home which were open to the tour had incredible fresh floral displays of fantastic quality and creativity.  My only regret was that photos were not allowed inside the home.  There was plenty to capture elsewhere though.

Cool stuff under glass

Go there!

Taterin'...

These days in the garden are busy days.  There's always something to do and never enough time to do it!  Situations like these force you to prioritize.  Do I edge and mulch the flower beds or plant peas and potatoes?  Do I take time to kick back with a coldie and enjoy the gardens and all the work I've done?  Certainly you must do the latter at some point.  The rains were coming this week though, so I knew I needed to stop everything and get to taterin'.  We had several Kennebec potatoes left over from last season that I used as seed potatoes for this year's crop.  They were on the smaller side and had already started sprouting after spending the winter in our cool basement.

I dug and I dug and I dug.....

...and I finished just in time for the first rain drops to fall.  And then I cracked open that coldie.  :)

Morel dinner

My first morel experience was nothing short of amazing.  Not only did I find them in our yard, but we made a meal with them that was out of this world.

Dinner was a loosely adapted version of this recipe using some of our deer tenderloin.  The morels were fun to work with - this being my first time.  I cut them into cross-sections (per advice from myco-geek friend) and soaked them in salt water in order to halt any insect life happening in these little buggars (though none was found).

We added some butter and onions as well as asparagus from the garden and finished them off with a red wine/beef broth roux. 

It was.....

DIVINE!!!!