The Hops bine is rocketing skyward! And, no, that isn't a typo, they're a 'bine' not a ''vine'. Hops (Humulus lupus) is critical to @ligayagarden. The young shoots are a pleasant Asparagus substitute and when the bine grows, it is trained along cables to shade part of the front of the house in Summer. It's deciduous, so dies back in Winter and let's sunlight into the house. Grapes, Passionfruit and Sweet Potato shade the rest of the West facing frontage. Yes, I did say Sweet Potato. The Purple variety, especially, likes to be trained upward and can be used as a shade plant that humidifies and cools the air around its leaves. We grow it mostly for the delicious leaves. Hops cones ate also important here. We do t brew beer, but it could be used for that. Rather, it is a key ingredient in a popular, potent pain killing and sleep indcuing brew that I make every year. Hops is listening in herbals as a 'soporific' and that means that it incurs sleep. As much as we can, we like to use plants in our garden that have multiple uses it's such a small space here that we grow in (we have only 320 cubic metres of growing area). ________________________________________________________ #herbs #herbalmedicines #obtainayield #smallspacegardening #urbanfarming #suburbanfarming #growyourfood #growyourmedicine #passivecooling #permaculture #saurbanfood #growitlocal (at Gawler, South Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUzDMs9BqXx/?utm_medium=tumblr
