The scramble of Traveller’s Joy, Brambles and Hop plants is getting a bit out of hand. In the chill air after a downpour I stay a while to remember the things I’ve seen in this clearing this year so far in a wave of nostalgia.

I’ve been keeping an eye out for some Hop flowers over the last few weeks and today I find a very small patch.

This plant in the Hemp family is thought to be native in some parts of southern England but mostly has escaped from cultivation for beer-making.

As well as giving adding bitterness and flavour to the beer, it also reduces the growth of bacteria.  What a great plant.