Hop Drying

The hops in te back garden have been ready to harvest for a nearly a week now but with all the rain I've been waiting until they are dry. As we don't have an Oast House at the bottom of the garden and I wasn't too keen on spreading them on the floor and lighting a fire under the shed we needed a different method. Americans say just put them on your mesh window screens for a few days - which I guess they often have to keep the insects out of their houses - but luckily we don't. So not wanting to go down the food de-hydrator route I looked for something similar from the internet. Try googling for "plant drying screen". See what you get. Shall we say they are used for drying a different kind of plant that its not actually legal to grow (or smoke). So I ordered a drying kit and I'd just like to point out to GCHQ and the CIA - we know you are listening - I'm using it for drying hops. For the record I have my old electric fan heater blowing cool air over them, and they seem to be drying out quite nicely. East Kent Goldings on the top, Fuggles on the middle and whole runs of hops for decorative purposes on the bottom.