The hops is ripening on the vine as the days get shorter and the Autumn chill permeates the air. It's actually a bine rather than a vine, as bines twisted stems have hairs that wrap around branches, poles and fences, whereas a vine uses tendrils and runners. Named for the wolf, it acts like a wolf, suffocating other plants in it's path - precisely the reason that I pulled out the other six that were wrapping around apple and gum trees alike. I'm not even sure whether I'll let this one stay, but hops are so useful medicinally that I keep it for now. And I love putting a shout out to local home brewers who gush effusively about how fresh and wonderful they are, a far cry from the pellets they order online. It's definitely a plant that gifts.

It's hard to choose a favourite herb when I love them all - and I wouldn't say hops is a favourite, only one of them. The soft white sage is sticky with resin at this time of year, joining clary sage as the most pungent, and the mugwort whispers dreams at me from near the elder trees who self seed themselves everywhere. The mullein towers above me like huge triffids that have rooted themselves in the ground. All kinds of herbs have reached their peak and have begun to die at this time of the year, and I'm busy tincturing, drying and absorbing their energy through all my senses.

Hops is definitely all consuming currently as I have people await their packages of dried hops I exchange for various things. They sit drying in the loungeroom on a hanging rack and stink out the house. For me, they are the stuff of dreams, added to chamomile tea to relax at the end of an evening. They're the only thing that help me sleep when I have a thumping headache.

Last year's hop harvest for gifting and bartering

Although associated with beer, to me a more masculine drink, I've come to see hops as a more feminine herb and value it as such. A feminine plant is often one that induces sleep and thus is of the dark night and the moon, like lemon balm, and that's what hops is all about - restful sleep. Thus it's good for menopause too, just at a time when I need all the help I can get in sleeping.

Full of phytoestrogens, they mimic estrogen's actions, and thus help with fatigue, sleep, hot flashes, and other menopausal symptoms. It's exactly what I need as I struggle through this time of my life. Plant will arrive on the scene just when you need them the most, I find. It's definitely a plant for woman, and worth looking into if you're a lady of Hive.