Checked on the backyard hops...

The backyard hops, not the hop yard hops, are going crazy. Some shoots are over a foot long already. I cut all the shoots off to force more growth into a couple bigger shoots. The first year is hard for people to do this, but, it does help and I don't feel overly attached to those first shoots anymore ;-) Here are some words you should be familiar with if you're going to grow hops. I'm in the middle of doing my taxes so I won't post links or definitions. If you would like to, I'd be ever so appreciative.

• rhizome
• crown
• bines
• shoots
• twine
• trellis
• hill
• side arms
• hop burr
• hop flower
• female plant
• male plant
• high yield
• bittering vs. flavor/aroma hops
  

That's all I can remember right now. Back to my taxes.