An oast house is a great big kiln, with associated packing and storage areas, used for drying hops. They have to be dried or they very quickly begin to degrade, compost and, in documented cases, spontaineously combust. Humphrey's oasts are heated by natural gas burners. The gas supply company got the delivery date wrong, turned up in a hurry and forgot a length of pipe, a very necessary length of pipe that is lost somewhere, anywhere, in the UK. Humphrey can't pick his hops until the oasts are running. Hops ripen on the bine and, if picked over-ripe, are no good.
This isn't an ideal situation. For once, just once, I'm hoping the weather will cool down, cloud over, and even drizzle a bit.
GHD ought to still go ahead, since we don't need the dryer. The question is, will Humphrey be in a charitable enough mood to fire up the picker, or will we be picking by hand?
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