Faversham Kent, Hop Farm Vine Gatherers. ca. 1930s
Hops, used in beer brewing, is a flowering vine that is trained to grow on tall strings strung between posts. Really tall strings. So tall, in fact, that before the advent of hop harvesting machinery, farmworkers had to use stilts to tend the plants. Harvesting hops were so labor intensive before mechanical harvesters were invented that entire families of migrant farmworkers took part in the harvesting process. In England, poor London families would travel to the hops fields of Kent, an important region for growing hops, during harvest time to take advantage of the plentiful work and employment opportunities.
The satisfaction you’ll get from the next image is pretty handy…..
