Promises of Homegrown Tea & Weather Woes

My Mom and I are hoping to grow and harvest a bit of our own tea this year. On a windy, rainy day like today we love to drink a nice cup of hot tea!

Pictured above is a tea plant. I (Trista) have 2 such plants in my yard from which I hope to harvest new, budding leaves to later process for tea. My Mom and I are also growing lemon balm, bee balm and chamomile which are also great plants for tea!

We'd like to share a site with you which talks about recipes for tea from plants we are growing.

http://www.theepicentre.com/

Here is some information my Mom gleaned from the site which we plan to use this year as we harvest our tea:

Harvesting and Using Chamomile:

"I grow German chamomile for tea, the Bodegold variety. It will get over 2 feet high. I use my fingers as a "rake" and harvest the whole flower heads. You can use chamomile fresh or dry it. I don't crumble my dried chamomile to store it. I keep all my dried herbs as whole as possible. Crushing/crumbling releases the volatile oils and there goes the flavor and medicinal value. I crush as I use the herb. Chamomile combines very well with lemon balm (fresh or dried) for an excellent tea."

Harvesting and Using Lemon Balm:

"Lemon Balm is a citrus y and fresh scented herb. It is very prolific and easily grown
Fresh or dried leaves are used in teas, infusions, and oils. Fresh leaves can be stored in plastic bags in the fridge for a few days or they can be frozen. Dried leaves should be stored in an airtight container. To dry leaves, avoid exposure to light or heat, spread out on newspaper or hang in bunches in a dark airy place. The leaves lose some of their flavor when dried. Dried leaves can be used as an ingredient in pot-potpourris."

Harvesting and Using Bee Balm:

"It is best to use the flowers for tea, the leaves have a hotter, oregano-like flavor. Enliven the taste and look of salads by adding a sprinkling of bergamot (bee balm) flowers. Use fresh or dried leaves in tomato dishes, and as a substitute for sage in stuffing for poultry and meats, especially pork and veal. The fresh leaves can be added to jellies, punch, lemonade or wine to add extra taste."

Wet and Cold Weather- Changing Our Garden Plans:

As we mentioned in earlier posts our April here in the state of Oregon was very wet and cold and thus resulted in some seeds that did not come up. We found out through NOAA that this April was unusually wet and cold.

See the complete article here:

http://tinyurl.com/2g6lr7y

This week has been very rainy with the occasional sun break and we've also had some very strong winds! I think that last May was considerably drier and sunnier.