We had an absolutely marvellous result on our first harvest day.
Thanks your amazing work we harvested 75kgs of hops from 95 sites (one more today!)
This is three times our top end expectations!
The activity in and around the town can only be described as frenetic and we engaged so many others - we had some sites with 10-15 people getting in the harvest with neighbours, children, grandchildren and in many case passers by press into action.
Our guestimate is that we had about 250-400 involved on the harvest or at the Landmark on Thursday.
My favourite image of the day was of our Pre-School site bringing in their crop from the school allotment. The kids were only a little bigger than the basket!
Some photos from the day here
The Landmark Garden, especially between about 4:30 to 6:30, was manic and had that heady hoppy aroma - we had music, pickers, a Hop town crier and a fantastic team managing the process, weighing and looking after our precious crop. And it did not stop really until about 8pm and we final delivered everything to Ripple Steam Brewery at 9pm
The brewers are blown away with the quantity and quality of the harvest. Photos here and videos on Facebook
I am happy to report that our first run of Hopping M.A.D (Made Around Deal) is in the fermentation tanks ready to be transferred to cask on Tuesday. The Aroma in the brewery is amazing. The beer looks, smells and tastes amazing - David is a happy brewer. He used about 25kgs on Friday
As we have more hops than we expected what do with the rest? We have taken advice from some local Professional hop farmers how to manage the hops. The plan is to do a second brew on Tuesday but this is contingent on the condition of the drying hops by Monday evening. We are hop sitting over the weekend. So keep your fingers crossed. The final decision is with the brewers. I will let everyone know what is happening on Tuesday morning.
I know a few of you may be feeling not as elated as the rest of us - people away, hops late or not at all.
But you are part of what we have achieved.
Our 'Crop' is not just hops or even beer but learning, friendships, fun and a community that can do anything #Deal@ItsBest
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