Brew from Scratch Project - Early Update

Well, right around August 1st the barley crop, such as is was, suddenly matured.  You can tell this is so when the stalks get brown and start to tip drunkenly.

I had some concerns....these grains seemed smaller than the seeds I had planted, and I was wondering if I would in fact get less than I had put in.  Some sort of lesson on the economics of agriculture lurk beneath the surface...

Seed version on the left, harvested crop on the right.  Sigh.

But the hops are coming along nicely.  That new fence that played hob with last year's crop is also looking good.

The short growing season of the barley has encouraged me to plant a second crop.  If I get a decent stretch of weather I'll have more grain to malt later.  If not, I'll turn it under and have a better garden plot next spring.