Killing Two Birds: A Drought Story

Harvesting Hops - Photo by Sarai Stevens

Killing Two Birds: A Drought Story
By Mike Stevens
September 2015

This summer was hot and dry.  Our property location is not ideal for gardening due to lack of groundwater and a 12 foot well that annually goes dry.  Our irrigation water is limited, so the choice of where and what to water is always on our minds.  This year, we made an accidental discovery that will be an intentional strategy in later summers of drought.  In short, a new bed of cabbage starts demanded water— survival meaning more delicious lacto-fermented sauerkraut this fall— so we prioritized making sure that the cabbages were taken care of… Fortunately, this bed drained its run-off onto an established hop bed; this generated a very healthy harvest of hops that would not have been flourishing anywhere near their level of productivity without the excess nutrient rich water from the starts.  Now, preparing to bottle twelve gallons of fresh-hopped home brew, I’m happily sitting on more than 45 pounds of hops in the freezer; honestly, it makes me want to grow more cabbages next year!