Craft beer and Camping

Despite Minnesota's the late Spring, snowing in April, and still having ice cover on some of the northern lakes for fishing opener, the weather is starting to get nice and the beginning of the camping season is upon us!!! Spring and fall are my favorite times of year to go camping. The weather is perfect; cool nights and warm days without excessive heat or bugs. Every Memorial Day weekend a group of good friends go on a week long canoe/camping trip. This is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable time of the year for me; as we float down the Big Fork River and sit around the fire drinking craft beers, sharing memories with my best friends.

Suns out, Hops are out!

With cold weather and frequent snow this past month the hops have started a bit late, but no worries, they are back in full form! About 3 weeks ago I preemptively replenished the soil with 11 bags of fresh manure to rejuvenate any lost nutrients since last summers harvest. I timed it well just before we received 10" of snow. My hope was the extra layer of soil would help insulate the plants a bit until the low temperatures finally rose above freeze levels and when the snow did finally melt, the melt water would pull some of the fresh nutrients down towards the roots to give them a good start to the summer.

One of the first Cascade's to break through the soil about a week ago. So many shoots!