The beginning...

Ski bumming...

River guiding...

Travels... but time for something new!

Lots of research and

an internship at Jackson Hop Farm

Road trip...

to decide where to start the farm

Montrose, CO! March 2017

Found a 33 acre alfalfa field

Ripping, tilling, marking...

John Deere 5093 EN!

The Warehouse...

Water line first...

Chris and a friend built the whole

warehouse!

Summer of 2017

Flea the farm dog!

PB280651.JPG

Concrete floors!

40 ft x 120 ft

Finished!

Trellis... Poles... 32 acres... 2,028 poles... 352 deadmen...

Planning and math...

Measurements!

Nails and a plate on all poles

Marking

First drilling attempt...

Adding water...

Drilling again...

Digging....

and digging...

2 ft deep!

Finally poles! 20 ft long

Load the poles...

Put the poles in the ground...

Straighten the poles...

Back fill and tamp...

Perimeter poles - 3ft deep!!

24 ft tall and at 62 degrees

Corner poles!

Last pole in!

Deadman 3.5 ft deep

Concreted in!

Trellis... Wire...  57 miles...

Attaching the deadman cable

Basket attachment

Deadman cables attached

Corner poles

Laying all wire on the ground

Pulling out wire with a quad

Raising the wire!!

Spring 2017 - Spring 2018

Partially raised wire.

Securing the corners!

System under tension.

Attempted explaination!

From 40 feet up!

Planting...  50,000+ rhizomes...

Planting Spring 2017

Rhizomes going in!

Beautiful ladies coming up!

Baby Cascade

Cutting rhizomes Spring 2018

Rhizomes!

So many rhizomes!

More planting Spring 2018

Fresh shoots coming up.

Girls turning into ladies!

Growing up!

Beautiful!

Irrigation, Stringing, & Training...

Irrigation filtration system!

Miles of drip tube!

Installed Spring 2018

Stringing...

Clipping into the ground.

Spring 2018, in action!

Training the plant...

Twisting the bine clockwise...

Beautiful   hops and Harvest 2018...

Adult Cascades

Big mama!

Chinooks!

Cutting down the bine

Into the trailor!

Cutting...

Bines in the wa

Feeding them into the picker

1973 Wolf 220

The Dr. Suess machine!

Ambient air drying this year

Drying racks...

Dried hops getting bagged

Loading the bags for cold storage

Dumping the bags

Mounds of Cascade!

Onto conveyor belt!

Final pellets...

Weighing out the pellets

Packaging...

Nitrogen purge, vacuum sealed

Mylar bags, ready for the brew!

And the process continues!