Published Article

The Gadget Ed., Jan/Feb 2011, Zymurgy

Well what do you know...  I'm published!  I have a small 2 column article in the Jan/Feb 2011, Gadget Edition of Zymurgy Magazine which just arrived in mail boxes across the country.  Okay, with the photos it's 2/3 of the page.    Editor of Zymurgy, Jill Redding,  posted requests for submissions to the Gadget Edition on the AHA Forum.  Here is the text of my submission:

     Not only do I have a gadget, it's a tall gadget and it's also yard art!  My hop trellis was easy to build, easy to install, easy to maintain and easy on the eyes.  When you have neighbors with nice yards and gardens, you don't want to be the guy with an eyesore. I went though several incarnations and this concept was the most appealing and most functional design without being out of proportion to my neighborhood.  All of my neighbors enjoy seeing the trellis and the progress of the hops. They also like talking about the decorative light on the top.
     It took about a half hour to get the wood and parts home from the supply super store, two hours painting some parts and putting it together and about an hour to get it in the ground.  The hardest part was to wait for the hops to grow.  I utilized a 16' 4x4 pressure treated post and sunk it 3' into the ground. The hole was dug with a simple two lever post hole digger. It did the trick since I didn't encounter any rocks, which is amazing for New England!   We've had a very windy winter and summer this year and the trellis, with the bines laden with hops, stayed firm in the ground.  The frost didn't heave it up at all either.  I've found the depth of the post to be satisfactory.  Depending on other area's weather and climate conditions, the post may need to be sunk deeper or into gravel or cement.

Zymurgy Cover Jan/Feb 2011

     It is simply decorated with a copper look post light at the top. The pipe arms are primed and painted with copper spray paint. All go very well with the weathered post and cedar trim.
      I've encountered some problems that have been overcome, such as designing a long "needle" to thread the rope through the pulley at the top without having to climb all the way up on an extension ladder to thread the rope through the pulley. I also changed to nylon rope rather than cotton, which dried out and broke.  Despite having only 13' above ground, I found the bine, which will climb higher, will stop growing at a certain point when it can't go up or sideways. More height could be added to the bineif I wanted by cutting off the the post at 4' above the ground and adding another post on top with a functional, yet decorative scab around the joint.
      It's so easy to let the rope off the cleat and lower the carriage down for harvesting. In the spring I can put the thread the twine through the arms and raise the carriage to the top for a season's growth. This season I had Hallertau hops on one side and Cascade on the other.  Now that the trellis works well, I'll add another Noble and an American hop rhizome so I have a variety of hop bines on each line.

Jill responded to my submission writing:

Love it! Will definitely be using it in Gadgets issue. AHA director Gary Glass wants you to come build one in his yard. :-)

The only thing she edited out was more information about the trellis: the blog address, website and other photo links.  N ow I have to send in my yearly dues to the AHA!