Harvesting Hops

Just one more thing on my long long list of what I love about gardening. You can always find something new to plant and experiment with. This last year it was hops. What a beautiful plant. I have been thrilled with the way the vine covered the west side of the gazebo this year. It provided wonderful shade in the late afternoon on the sunny hot days we had in August. The plant has been in the ground two years now, and last year, it's first, didn't really do much of anything. Thinking back now I even wondered if I should just quit watering it and yank it out. This year it exploded with growth....and hops. Now it is time to harvest and dry them. Since this is the first year for me, I did some research and below are a few of the best sites I have found. I will let you know how this project comes out when they are dry. And....since Bob doesn't brew his own beer, anyone need/want some hops???

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.3/montell.html
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/07/drying-hops-at-home.html
http://sroc.cfans.umn.edu/People/Faculty/VinceFritz/Hops/HopDrying/index.htm
http://barlowbrewing.com/2009/08/08/simple-and-basic-homegrown-hop-drying-1st-harvest-of-2009/