Pruning Hops

Since I'm worried the weather might get rainy again I spent a couple of hours pruning our hops and climbing hydrangea. You are supposed to prune hops after the first frost, but ours is so vigorous, it could use a bit of taming down. I have to figure out how to reach the vines that climbed up and onto the power line. We are going to use these prunings for our All Soul's Shrine. Today we had a meeting to work on the design and I am very excited about it. I've put the hops fruit in the back porch to dry out, along with my lemon verbena clippings and fennel seed heads. The porch smells great!

The weather has turned cool again and I am craving the comfort food of Thanksgiving. I really want turkey!!!!!!

Those Who Wander are Never Lost

Our friends have taken the plunge and sold their house. Now they are going to take their family on the road, traveling for a year before they move out east. I must say, I felt a bittersweet pang of sadness when I saw the "sold" sticker on their sign this week. We have spent time celebrating and sharing birthday parties, potluck dinners, block parties, and just the daily events of our lives. Selfishly, we hope they still consider our neighborhood their true home.


Tuesday and Wednesday were dry and warm so I had time to start clearing out the garden and harvesting the hops. The hops have a resinous garlic scent, which surprised me. They don't smell like beer at all!


I thought I saw a recipe for hops jelly once, but now I can't find it. If anyone sees one, please let me know. Otherwise, these babies will go to a friend who makes homemade beer.