Growing Hops

I planted 4 hop rhizomes a few weeks ago and as of Wednesday one of the plants was already taller than my fence. According to what I have read, hops grow as tall as 20 feet. So yesterday I set out to build something for them to climb high for cheap. My total price tag was well under $40. Selling for $2/oz. I should be able to recapture my costs pretty quickly.

In dreaming up my design I had to come up with a way to get the hops down every fall without a 16' step ladder. My final plan was to run a cable between to poles that could be lowered. The pictures below should show my plan better than I can explain it. I purchased 2 16' 2x4s, 50 ft. of 1/16" cable, two eye bolts, string, and a couple other miscellaneous parts. I originally planned on using pulleys but decided that they were unnecessary.