Hi everyone,
We’re about to get started with year 2 hop growing!

Year one has been great fun with brewing, bottling and a handful of 'sampling' sessions....  I hope many of you have had the chance to try the amazingly tasty ‘Hackney Homegrown’ that we brewed with Hackney Brewery in the local pubs and beer festivals!

We are now recruiting new dedicated urban growers and beer-lovers to join the existing group for Year 2.

The idea is to basically create a community of people interested in growing hops in a variety of urban spaces - from balconies to community spaces - and then we harvest and make beer together with a local brewer in September and enjoy truly 'Local Ale'.

We will be sharing growing information and experience, brewing and then drinking our beer together. One of our first year growers is up for giving us a home-brewing masterclass, we're planning to organise a hop farm visit again, and you can get involved in label-design and bottling too!

Please see the article on our project in the Jellied Eel:

http://www.sustainweb.org/jelliedeel/articles/676/

The initial starter pack gives you one hop rhizome  - Prima Donna - which is a smaller-growing dwarf hop suitable for urban spaces. It will also include a pre-mixed compost and fertilizer mix and some yarn, as well as giving you membership to the group and activities. Starter packs will cost in the region of £20, any additional plant at £10.

So if you or anyone you know would be interested in getting involved, please do get in touch with me ASAP/in the next couple of days with your contact details, how many plants you want and the address + postcode of where you will be growing them and we can take it from there! I'll send you more details then.

We’re also currently working on a dedicated website with all the relevant information.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Isabel

@HackneyHopGrow
isabel_hankart@hotmail.com