Digging a four foot deep hole is not as easy as it sounds…

Posted on 04.01.08 8:11PM under Hops

Hops Pole Full ViewToday I began the process of growing hops. I built and installed the vertical support structure for my growing plans. I bought three eight foot long 2×3 boards, so I could make a 16′ pole. I cut one of the boards in half, and put one half on each side of the place where the two boards met. Then I put a bunch of screws through it. Six to be exact, spaced six inches apart, except for the spot where the two long boards met. That should hold the two boards together through the windy coastal weather I get at my hillside home.

Hops Pole Connector DetailMy plan was to put the 16′ assembly four feet into the ground, and leave 12′ above ground for bine growth. It turns out that digging a four foot deep hole is not as easy as it sounds. Of course, it doesn’t sound easy any more, having tried it. I don’t know if it’s the glaciers that once covered this land, or the fact that I’m just a few dozen feet above sea level, but I’ve got a ton of rocks in my dirt.

Hops Planting Locations

I made it about 30″ down, and then hit a bunch of rocks. I could pry some out, and I was able to break apart a few of them. But mostly I was stymied by the hidden chunks of granite submerged beneath my fertile soil. I managed to get another few inches down, but in the end, I had to settle for something between two-and-a-half feet and three feet deep for the pole. I felt OK about this, since the guy at the store recommended one foot deep for each eight feet up. So I was more than that. Just not where I wanted to be.

Fortunately, today was windy, so I got a bit of a test of its stability after I mounted it. It barely sways at all in the wind, so I think it will work. And worst case, if it fails and breaks and falls, I can just put it back up again, with additional ground support. Plus, once the hops are on there with a bit of tension, that should help hold it up. I might also use a ratcheting tie-down as a fourth anchor point to hold it in place if needed.

The other challenge was the ropes that will one day support leafy bines full of hop cones. I got a pack of allegedly ten 20′ sections of rope. There were nine long secions, and one not-as-long piece. Lucky for me, I have three rhizomes, and I intend to make three lines from each plant, so I only needed nine lines. So I tied all the lines to a big eyebolt fastened to the top of the pole before I put up the pole. I thought I was pretty smart. Then I had to unravel all the lines to bring them down to the planting spots. That was not as easy, but I made my way through that challenge. It just took a methodical approach and a bit of patience. The patience was the tricky part after working on those rocks for a lot longer than I thought I would be.

Now my support structure is in place, and all I need to do is plant the rhizomes. So I get to dig a few more big holes, and mix the dirt I dig up with a bunch of manure I bought at the garden shop. Should be really degrading, but so worth it once everything starts growing.

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