Thymely Information
~ ubmitted by Fran Hedeman,
S
Herb Society of Dubuque
To sleep or not to sleep, that is the question.
Visitors to the Formal Herb Garden
often remark on the vine rapidly
covering our arbor entrance. When we identify it as a Hop plant
(Humulus lupulus), people immediately jump to the conclusion
that we are preparing to make beer. Not so. Our dried female
hop flowers, a cone-like growth called a strobile, are destined to
become an ingredient in sleep or dream pillows. We only have
one plant for viewing but hop is grown commercially around the
world, one of the few herbs
still grown on a grand scale
Sleep Pillow
today.
Hop strobiles should be picked when they are amber brown
in color and partly dry. Finish drying them immediately after
harvest in an oven at a temperature of 125 to 150 degrees. Use
as quickly after drying as possible. They should be stored in
a dark, airtight container and used within 9 months. After 9
months 85 percent of their chemical vitality is lost.
The dream pillow mentioned in the first paragraph is actually
a small, flat bag of herbs that one places inside a
pillowcase
or pins near
Here is a simple recipe for
the head
those who would like to try
The majority of the crop
where you are
is used in the production
making their own sleep pillo
sleeping. The
w.
of beer. It was introduced
bag should
into North America by the
be made of
Relaxing Dream Blend
Massachusetts Company
cotton or
½ cup each dried Lavender,
in 1629 but it was used
Mugwort & Sweet Hops
muslin that
Mix all the ingredients togeth
for brewing in France and
has been
er and set aside in a plastic
bag
Germany as far back as the
washed with
for 24 hours. Remove mix
ture from the plastic bag
and fill
ninth and tenth centuries.
a mild soap
your prepared bag. \ This
is a restful, relaxing blend.
It became an important
to remove
Jim Long, a well-know herbal
ingredient when brewers
the sizing.
ist, sells sleep pillows.
discovered that it served as
Do not use
You may contact him at:
a preservative. In the USA,
fabric softener.
Long Creek Herbs | P.O.
Box 127 | Blue Eye, MO 65
production started on the
The finished
611
East Coast but after the
“pillow” should
New York fields experienced an
be about 3
epidemic of downy mildew in the 1920s, production moved west
inches across and 6 inches long. Fill with one half to one cup of
and today most of the US crop is grown in Washington, Oregon,
herbs and sew up the open end.
California, and Idaho. Commercially, hop plants are grown
__________
on 18-foot high poles in fields called hopyards. The vines are
trained on wires that run from pole to pole.
NOTE: Recovering alcoholics should probably not use hops in a
dream blend. Jim Long reports that some who have done so have
The hop has a long and deserved reputation as a sedative. It is
had dreams of drinking establishments! Do not use potpourri in sleep
said that simply resting one’s head on a pillow stuffed with this
pillows.
herb will induce sleep. People have asked me if it really works. I
__________
can’t offer any definitive proof but both Abraham Lincoln and
King George are said to have used hop pillows and there have
REFERENCES
been reports that workers in hop fields tire easily. Although
Dream Pillows and Love Potions by Jim Long
there have been no scientific stu dies conducted on humans,
The Complete Book of Herbs by Andi Clevely and Katherine
experiments with frogs, birds, and mice show that hops do
Richmond
depress the central nervous system.
Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs edited by Claire
Kowalchik and William H. Hylton
Even if you don’t plan to make beer and have no problems
sleeping, you could use hops to decorate a screen, arbor or
pergola. However, be aware that the average plant can grow to a
height of 25 feet and some have been known to reach 40 feet in a
single season. The vines are very vigorous and sometimes grow 6
to 12 inches per day. No wonder I have trouble keeping our one
plant from invading its neighboring lavender!
HAVE YOU REMEMBERED THE
DUBUQUE ARBORETUM & BOTANICAL
GARDENS IN YOUR WILL?
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