Spent Brewers hops in the garden
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If you make your own beer or are lucky enough to know the local craft brewery, you will should have access to a very beneficial byproduct - the spent hops!
Spent hops makes a perfect mulch for your garden as it retains moisture really well and the hop buds are heavy enough to withstand wind and not get blown about. The hops make a fantastic compost accelerator, as the alpha, beta, and gamma resins speed up the decay of the organic matter. The spent hops have a full range of micronutrients and trace elements as well as a decent level of NPK so they give they pack a punch in the compost heap. Just on a side note, unlike the spent grains, hops are poisonous to dogs - so if you do use them as a much, please keep your dogs off the area! |