Heirloom plants are tough to find in this Wal-Mart world, but Daniel Driscoll knows the value of a history-preserving cutting. Driscoll lives in Knox, and he has found locally- and personally-significant plants in both Berne and Altamont.

Driscoll told The Enterprise that he has grown heirloom plants for more than 30 years.

One plant he nurtures is a hops vine he tracked down from a former brewing-industry employee in Berne. Historically, farmers in Berne grew hops, which was used in Albany’s brewing plants.

Hops vines, Driscoll explained, are male or female, but only the female vines are cultivated for their flowers. Male hops vines produce unwanted seeds. Poles are used to guide the vines as they grow, he said. Flowers were traditionally stripped from the vines and sent to the ost house, where they were dried to be used in brewing, Driscoll said.

The Enterprise archives hold many references to the former industry in Berne. Driscoll said that the Cooperstown Farmers’ Museum also has information about the hops industry. Information about the museum can be found on-line at farmersmuseum.org.

Driscoll said that he has brewed his own drinks before, but not with his collection of hops plants. He will be selling cuttings from his vines at the Knox Historical Society’s plant sale at the Historical building during the Memorial Day Parade in Knox.

Heirloom plants maintain history, but also old friendships and remembrances. Driscoll became well-acquainted with the late Ernie Walk of Altamont when Driscoll and his wife investigated Brittany dogs, one of which Walk owned. The Driscolls fell in love with the breed, and later passed on one of their puppies to Walk.

Driscoll recalled that Walk, a wonderful gardener, once had a radio program on which he gave gardening advice.
"He had a blackberry plant his father had cultivated. He gave me a cutting from that. The blackberries are very large on it," Driscoll said.

As with the hops plants, Driscoll simply enjoys, rather than preserves, the blackberries. Fittingly, his dog, a breed beloved by both Driscoll and Walk, joins him when he harvest the berries.
"I eat them. When I walk the dog in the morning, I eat them," Driscoll said. Cuttings from the blackberry stalks are not for sale, Driscoll said, but he will give them away, especially to those who knew Walk.