Hoping for hops: Shade and a cold beer

I have always prided myself in being a life-long learner. I push myself to keep trying new things.

- LINDA REID

So does my husband, Ken. Quite often we embark on these new challenges together. This is the story of one of those learning experiences we both stepped into eagerly, or maybe I should say “hopped” into.

After our new lattice topped pergola was completed over our southern exposure patio a year ago, we began to brainstorm a natural way to use vine-like plants as a shade-producing curtain and cover for those hot Wenatchee summer days.

We imagined wisteria (too messy), grapevines (too slow-growing), morning glory (too invasive), and clematis (no luck with it in the past).

Then we had a light bulb moment: “Let’s grow hops!” Hops grow fast and they could make a curtain and can be trained to grow across the lattice to form a ceiling.

They are lush and green in the summer and change color in the fall. In addition to all those pluses, they are perennials and you can even make beer out of them.

Personally, the only beer I can choke down is an ice-cold Harp on tap, on a hot summer day when there is nothing else cold beer cold to drink. Ken, however, is a connoisseur of beer and has even brewed a few small batches himself.

First step: he started researching kinds of hops, where to get them, when to plant them, and all other hoppy things.

In early spring he ordered 12 carefully researched hop rhizomes from Yakima Valley Hops: Cascades, Centennials and Chinooks.