DuBois > wrote:
>Hmmm ... you plant them in the spring,

Hops are planted before the spring-- they're a perennial.

>...and just before the first frost in the autumn...

Hops are harvested in late summer or very early autumn.

>...they're about 8-12 feet tall ....

Hop bines get to about 40 feet tall (except for new dwarf
varieties).

>...and you harvest the unfertilized female flowers ... hmmmmm.

Some hop varieties (typically British) have seeds.
But I'll grant you half that one.

That reminds me, I have to cut down my (decorative)
hop bines. They're *way* past prime.
--
Joel Plutchak

"Things just fall apart." - Now They'll Sleep (Belly)