A multitude of males!

With less than 2 weeks to harvest, the female hop-bearing plants are coming along nicely. 

But this year, Matthew has discovered a multitude of male hop plants in the garden. 

It’s the female plants which produce the hops, but a few male plants are needed for obvious reasons! 

There’s normally about one male to every 1000 female plant. But our self-sown males have multiplied prolifically for some reason this year.

Contrary to the popular myth, hop plants don’t change gender but they do migrate.  The seeds come off during harvest and get scattered between the bines, where they establish themselves and grab onto the strings.

But too many male plants isn't good for business as they are all hop-less!

If you are interested in helping out with the hop harvest, why not volunteer as a Hogs Back Hopper?

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