You all have been so kind to follow along on our journey. From the earliest hop plants and the tiniest ankle biters, to a CSA and growing community, to Rank and Row and the Veterans in Agriculture movement. Thank you.  Dear friends, I wanted to share a bit with you about why we made a change away from the "Hop Haus" title and towards "Compass Crops". If you aren't one to care too much about the nitty gritty, I'd encourage you to toss back a beer and know that your hoppy pals are still here. We are just shifting the scope a bit. We were teenagers, at the Hop Haus. We're now inking up on middle age. The journey has left it's mark on us, but it hasn't changed who we are or the quality we strive for! Schneider's Hop Haus was kicked off in 2011/2012. A baby on our back, a song in our heart, and the notion of our very own hop yard-- wide-eyed and dreamy. We forged our way through worn and tired soil. We rehab'ed a beat-up...

***edited to add. This posting was one of five that didn't quite make the publishing floor in "the year of our move". I'm retracing my steps and thought this one may be of some use to folks.**** We've had an influx of yellow jackets in and around the new homestead. It seems, Northeast Ohio has had an increase in yellow jackets this October. Our colony split just a few weeks ago. As it turns out, very poor timing for this lot! As family gathered on the back porch to celebrate my awesome niece's birthday, it occurred to me that there were yellow jackets (read hornets) coming and going from the general direction of the top bar hive. WE HAD BEEN INVADED! There was a literal massacre of honey bees going down, right under my nose. The recently split colony wasn't strong enough to fight off the onslaught of aggressors. I pulled the hefty bars of honey. We stored the maticulous bars of drone comb in the freezer. And we bedded the hive down for another ...