CSU Extension-Clear Creek County

The students at Georgetown Community School had a SMASHING good time yesterday at the mini Pumpkin Smash! Coordinated by Scraps-to-Soil, the event is a fun way to learn about the importance of composting, and is one of the many local activities CSU Extension in CCC has been a part of over the years.

Have a pumpkin to compost? Learn more about composting
Scraps-to-Soil, Neighborhood Compost Club
Institute for Local Self Reliance: ilsr.org
National Waste & Recycling Association: beginwiththebin.org
EPA: epa.gov/epawaste
US Composting Council: compostingcouncil.org
Organic Lesson: organiclesson.com

It's our final day of our Heritage Hops social media theme, to celebrate the hops growing next to our Georgetown Demo Garden.

Some people say, "I don't like hops" which they're usually meaning they're not fans of the bitterness. In fact all beers have hops, but some beers have a less bitter hops profile.

There is a measurement called the International Bitterness Unit scale, aka IBU's.

It is the standard for measuring the amount of hops in beer. A hoppy beer like an IPA will have a very high IBU rating around 75. A malty beer like a stout will usually have a low IBU rating around 30

Water, yeast, malt, and hops! These are the four basic ingredients to brew beer. The Reinheitsgebot is a series of regulations from 1516, known as the German purity laws, limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany to water, hops, barley, and yeast.

Despite the same base ingredients, flavor profiles can vary based on the type of malt, yeast, and hops, in order to make the different styles of beer.

As we celebrate our Heritage Hops, learn about the different profiles that different varieties of hops have. Learning the different bittering hops and aromatic hops can help you learn the different beer styles and hops you enjoy.

Infographic Source: "Based on John Palmer's Hop Wheel - Redesigned and Updated by Tim Kreitz"

If you're feeling inspired to grow some hops for brewing, or just for the ambiance of your patio, we have some tips for you.

First off, try a hop variety that is suggested for high-elevation, such as Cascade, Chinook, Crystal, or Nugget varieties.

Tips for growing hops
1 - You can start a plant by seed or rhizomes. Growing from seed can take a long time so you may prefer to try planting a Rhizome.
2 - Plant your hops in the sunniest spot, provide protection from wind, plant in well-drained soil, and make sure you have vertical space to allow themm to grow.
3 - Train the early shoots to climb up the strings/twine/cord.
4 - Fertilize during the growing season - use nitrogen in May and a bloom booster in June and July
5 - They will need consistent watering. During the hottest months and peak growing season they will need a gallon a day. Mulch the garden bed where they are growing.
6 - Pick the strongest shoots to grow upward on the string and prune the others back to ground level.
7 - After your hops harvest, prune the plant back to the ground where it will die off for the winter months, and produce new shoots in the spring.

We found hops growing across from our Native Plant Demo Garden in Georgetown a few years ago. After discovering the hops growing on the ground, we built a trellis system for the bines to grow upward and off of the ground. And that is the story of the "Heritage Hops." They're harvested and dying back in the fall but you can find them growing on their trellis during the summer months. The Native Plant Demo Garden is in Georgetown Colorado at 509 Taos Street next to the Georgetown Heritage Center.

Kids of all ages had a great time making their own slime concoctions at the 4-H/Library activity booth on Saturday at the Idaho Springs Ball Fields! It was all part of the community’s 21st Century STEM Learning Grant. Thanks to the amazing Clear Creek Rec District for organizing the event!