In which I pretend I know how to garden

The hops are in! Now comes the tedious part -- watering, and waiting to see what comes of all this this season.

The planting itself was about as easy as could be for this gardening-challenged guy. I got a lot of help from this fantastic book -- which has more than earned its place on my brewing shelf -- but really, it was pretty simple:

• Dig a hole.
• Put some rich soil in that hole.
• Put the hop rhizome in the hole.
• Dump some mulch on top.

And there you have it!

It's a little hard to see, but the hop placement is actually quite specific -- there are two mounds under the trellises (trelli?), with a hop rhizome planted a few inches under each. On the right is Fuggle; the left hill will sprout Willamette.

While tending the hops this summer, I'll also be working on the best way to dry and package the hop cones after harvest. It looks like there's a few options. Anyone out there have any experience with one that's worked best for them?

(For my non-hops-book-owning readers: It occurred to me right after planting that aside from this terrible photo, I never actually photographed the rhizomes before they went in the ground. Just know they're there, and look like someone lopped off a small tree branch and sold it to me.)