Male and female flowers are produced on separate plants - and unfortunately, the specimen I visited earlier in the year to pick shoots (see the previous page) is a male.

So I had to look around a little further - but quite easily found some female plants in various hedgerows within a mile or two of my home - and in perfect condition for picking.

The pale green, nodding flowers are borne in dropping clusters - not always immediately apparent, but looking up through the plant from underneath, there were plenty to be found.

They're quite delicate and easily bruised - best picked in whole sprigs, rather than as individual flowers (leaving the stalks on makes them easier to hang up for drying too).

These are wild, or at least feral hops - and the flowers are fairly small - less than 2cm in length. Cultivated varieties often bear great cascades of larger flowers.

I picked a large double handful of hops - enough, hopefully, for one batch of beer making.

But I'm not ready to start brewing just yet, so I'll need to preserve them. They can be frozen or dried.

At commercial scales, they're dried in an oasthouse using artificial heat, but I won't need anything so elaborate.

To dry them, I just strung them together and hung them in an airy corner of a room, not in direct sunlight.

In a couple of days, they were papery and completely dry. I packed them in a plastic bag and sucked the air out to keep them as fresh as possible.

Before I can start brewing, I need to complete Project Wholegrain, which will provide the barley I need to make malt for my beer.