The Bar Towel

I'm looking to plant some hops in my yard this year, and I was wondering if anyone has a lead on good places to acquire hops. I'm considering http://www.freshops.com as they seem to be the standard, but getting the hops in from the US seems prohibitively expensive, and there's no guarantee of how long it will take to arrive.

http://www.richters.com has a very limitted selection, but at least it's nearby.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Barry Pilatske can get them for you. I got them from him last year.

Email: brewyourown2000@yahoo.com
Phone: 416-466-6442

Daniel.


Now is the time to get them.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dhurtubise on 2003-05-04 23:06 ]</font>

With Richter's it does not seem that you are guaranteed to get the female plant. I have bought them in the past both from freshops and through Barry as also suggested. Your best bet is through Barry as it is alot cheaper and quicker.

Digging up an ancient thread here, but does anyone have a good source for a hop plant in Toronto? I'd like to start a couple of bines in my back yard this summer.

all the usual locals (torontobrewing, CHS, etc) have 'em.

I ordered mine from Crannog (even when I was in Toronto):
http://www.bartowel.com/crannog-ales-left-fields-farm/

They're already sold for the season, but if you watch their facebook page, they might have some extra's once they've shipped the orders out:
http://leftfieldstore.crannogales.com/index.php

grub wrote:all the usual locals (torontobrewing, CHS, etc) have 'em.

Huh, I didn't think it would be that easy. The hard part was actually deciding which strains to go with. I ended up settling on a Columbus and a Cascade. Shame I couldn't find Citra or Simcoe, oh well.

squeaky wrote:

grub wrote:all the usual locals (torontobrewing, CHS, etc) have 'em.

Huh, I didn't think it would be that easy. The hard part was actually deciding which strains to go with. I ended up settling on a Columbus and a Cascade. Shame I couldn't find Citra or Simcoe, oh well.

don't think you can grow citra here. you need winter-hearty species. so you usually see more old world hops (cascade, willamette, fuggles, etc).

if anyone else needs hops, let me know asap. i'm having my backyard redone and the fence that 2 of my willammete rhizomes grow on is going down. will need to transplant the hops but i don't have any space for it.

not sure how "winter hardy" they need to be... i've got a bunch of varieties and haven't had any issues related to that. worst weather-related issue i've had is needing to cover the buds last spring to avoid frost at night, but that's hardly variety-dependent.

squeaky wrote:

grub wrote:all the usual locals (torontobrewing, CHS, etc) have 'em.

Huh, I didn't think it would be that easy. The hard part was actually deciding which strains to go with. I ended up settling on a Columbus and a Cascade. Shame I couldn't find Citra or Simcoe, oh well.

Simcoe & Citra amongst others are proprietary so you wont be able to get rhizomes.

grub wrote:not sure how "winter hardy" they need to be... i've got a bunch of varieties and haven't had any issues related to that. worst weather-related issue i've had is needing to cover the buds last spring to avoid frost at night, but that's hardly variety-dependent.

think the winter hardiness has to do with ground temps over the winter.
rosemarie's a good example of an herb that isn't winter hardy in toronto, but may be fine in Windsor due to the slight changes. i've had rosemarie survive over the winter only once



my hops survive in zone 3. but look at the west coast and see what species would possibly survive there and not in Toronto.

again, mostly a guess. but i'd suggest you couldn't grow nelson sauvin or citra (if you could get them) in toronto.

Rosemary is absolutely winter hardy in Toronto. My plant is on it's third year.

edit: Not that that changes the point.

well i'm up to 8 plants now and haven't had any issue. i figure as you get north you perhaps get a shorter growing season, but frozen ground is frozen ground. I can't wait until I have more room to start growing even more.

we've got rosemary and a few other herbs in the garden that absolutely refuse to die. they're practically turning into giant bushes at this point.

rhizomes are a cheap investment, and super easy to grow. i'd say give it a shot. worst case you're out $10-15.

You have to protect Rosemary when it's young. Mulching is usually all it takes, though if you have a bad winter like this one you might need to take extra steps. I think once it hits the bushy stage, it's more or less immortal.