Thursday 15 September 2016

Hops for a Sleep Pillow


 I am so happy ! I have quite a plentiful mini harvest of hops from my golden hop .


                    Well enough to make a couple of Sleep Pillows anyway .


 It is just an Ornamental Golden Hop  , Humulus lupulus aureus . I love its loopy latin  name too , Humulus lupulus which translates to Earth Wolf .


It is that yellow resin or lupulin , at the base of each  green bract which gives the hop its aroma and flavour .  Different varieties of hops ,have varying degrees of flavours and aroma and are used in the production of beer . A cup of Hop tea  with a little maple syrup is very calming . The scent of hops is well known , for when used in a simple sleep pillow can help induce sleepiness .  I,m going to add some lavender to mine  .


                          First I am going to dry them off on a sunny windowsill .


 I think these are ready now ,they have a hoppy fragrance , not too grassy and are papery to the touch and springy ...and I can see the yellow lupulin resin between the bracts .


                                  So here they are hanging up in the sunshine  .
We had a dreadful storm yesterday and I was worried that  my hops would be ruined , but I think they  are going to be just fine . While they are drying , I will have time to make up some muslin sachets for the sleep pillows .
           Whoever sleeps in this room will sleep very well indeed !

1 comment:

  1. What a great idea...you can guess what I shall be doing tomorrow. Many thanks for the inspiration.

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