Former coworkers grew/grow hops. A couple of summers ago, when we had a prolonged dry spell, they were the only ones who had a good harvest. He said it was because they didn't skimp on watering. He said they take a LOT of water.
There are a bazillion breweries here! LOL. The weed only really grows well in the eastern 1/4 of the state in the wild. But there are a LOT of micro breweries in the cities and even in some of the smaller towns. The business/population just isn't there for financial support in the villages who would never consider plopping down 6$ for a bottle of craft beer. But OH yes, the cities....plenty of breweries and micro breweries. OC they import their hops. Only a few grown their own.
I store mine in my cool dark insulated but unheated garage in shallow baskets and they do fine for months, some will last till spring, if i do not eat them all! If I do eat them all, I just buy a few more from the grocery. My garage never gets below about 45 degrees even in bad freezing weather outside and hovers near 50 to 65 degrees most of the winter and is dry and also, dark, most of the time. My neighbors store theirs on the attic stair well where they say it stays about 65 degrees most of the time , in the fall and winter with good success. Sweet potatoes are easy food. I plant the slips in well tilled ground, covered with plastic mulch through slits in the plastic and usually forget them till fall or for bigger crops monitor the water and irrigate them in dry weeks well once or twice. I also rotate these with Crowder or similar southern peas grown one or two years and sweet potatoes one season and repeat. No pest have been problems here on sweet potatoes, much to my surprise!, but I have had voles gnaw on some potatoes, but never a big problem.
I have been successfully been growing hops (Two varieties) for many years and using them in my homebrews. I am in zone 7b and the challenge here is the hot and humid summers and wet cold winters. Your problem would be the cold temps in zones 3. I don't know how well they would do there, but you can check with a local agricultural university or govt. ag extension agent for your area. I have heard of people growing them from Maine to Washington state and they seem to do better with cooler temps than in my region. I grow them over the top of my chicken coop run and up on trellis on the side of my workshop porch for the summer shade as well as the pleasant smelling and useful beer ingredient for bitterness and aroma. Cascade and Liberty varieties are working for me both in beer and as a shade ornamental. Best wishes for your gardens and the homebrew efforts.
Yeah, everyone has their finger in the insurance pie.
Colder weather feels like winter. Left hip has been bothering me for some time. Time to get it checked out. Long process due to insurance. See primary care doctor Friday then referral to Ortho doctor. Likely a long wait. I fear it may lead to surgery.
