Hop Update from Rogue GYO Hop Farm in Independence, Oregon

From Rogue:

On Friday, Rogue went to Independence to meet with a few locals and invite them to the grand opening of the tasting room on 5/15. While we were down there we learned a few things you might find interesting.

Keven, the farm manager, has his crews tightening the overhead lines in anticipation of the stringing that starts next week. At approximately 1750 in length, these overhead cables can stretch quite significantly over time with the combined weight of the hop bines and tension from the down strings.

Starting next week the crews will string environmentally-friendly coconut twine from these overhead cables and staple them to the ground. The hop bines (some nearing 3′ in height already) have been trained on short bamboo stakes for a few weeks. Once the twine is strung and stapled, the crews will begin removing the bamboo stakes and begin training the bines to the twine.

Our man Joe went door-to-door on Wigrich Road to meet the neighbors and to say hello to the people we’ll annoy with our tasting room traffic this summer. All are excited to hear we’ll have regular hours this summer (4pm to 9pm, Tuesday through Saturday). We’ve got a handshake deal with our neighbor Joe Kirk to source our hazelnuts from his nut orchard bordering the hop yard and we’ll put up a sign this summer indicating it as the source for Rogue’s hazelnuts.

“Our neighbor’s had a good laugh over this – the inside joke down there is that they call people coming out to the tasting room “Rogue Nuts.””

We’re making real progress getting the farmhouse (the “Hop in Bed”) ready for overnight guests. With a few more tweaks and some kitchen equipment it will be ready to rent to you, your friends and family in just a few weeks. The whole house (sleeps 10+ as follows: 2 queen beds, three rooms with bunk beds).

One tip: Keven is a sucker for 4 year olds begging for a tractor ride.