I love hops as well as the creative beers in which they are used so I aspire to to be a small hops producer. I have good relations with various breweries in the area and hope to court those that are sustainably oriented.

But I also want to instill some good natured confusion upon those that visit the farm.

A cool tree that stuck with me from studying forestry in college is the Hophornbeam, Ostrya virginiana. Its flowers resemble green hops and turn brown as the flowers sheath the new fruit.

From wikipedia:

“Ostrya virginiana 2” by Eric Hunt – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ostrya_virginiana_2.jpg#/media/File:Ostrya_virginiana_2.jpg

I will plant a pair of these at the farm entrance. Think of the possibilities! I can jest that I’ve grafted hops to a birch tree and am the first ever producer of tree hops. These trees will serve as a good conversation starter!