Homegrown Herbal Tea

[Jane23]

I think that's it .

Wild roses grow here and I have collected them, and domestic. Not quite my cup of tea ...

Trying to get away from coffee caffeine, I used both dandelions and Witloof chicory that I grew. Soon, I will dig up the "Italian dandelions" that I grew here at home this year. Last Fall, I dug up dandelions again, toasted them in a cast iron pan and ground them. Nope. My tastes must have changed ... The Witloof chicory was my first experience with trying the roots as a beverage but I hadn't grown them for that purpose. Perhaps, I had not yet eaten radicchio and didn't realize that I wouldn't like Witloof! (I do like endive well enough to have grown it for several years .)

Roses ... Raspberries ... Do you like the flavor of raspberries, @Jane23 ? Try the leaves. It really wasn't that I dislike raspberries, not at all. However, there seemed to be something "lacking." Abundant supply and dual purpose - I should try a combination with something. Somehow, I think chamomile might be a good choice ... Anyway.

Steve

I do like raspberries and they are on my list of things to grow, but at a later date. I would like to plant roses around parts of my garden at some point.

 

[digitS']

This isn't homegrown but I had something of a revelation regarding tea ingredients.

First, I suggested buying a box of something that you like and read the ingredients. I did that. Inspired to try star anise with orange zest. Nope, it's not the star anise, went with licorice root.

DW had wanted to try passionfruit leaves but the purchased herb needed something and I had dried cranberries on hand for an addition to my breakfast hot cereal. They added a pleasant sweetness - I tried them with the zest/licorice. Very good!

Recently, I came across a cranberry bread recipe. Sounds good ... Orange Zest!? Well sure. Sounds good, don't it ? Now my accidental combination is reaffirmed. It may be something to explore -- a favorite dessert combination. Leave out the flour and baking soda and come up with a simple combination of flavors. Put them in your kettle and brew yourself a cup of tea .

Steve
who won't be back to his favorite, homegrown and freezer stored stash of anise hyssop and lemon verbena until the road looks clear for a new harvest of those 2 herbs in 2023

 

[Pulsegleaner]

@Jane23 , I'm not a fan of what most of us think of as mint. It's okay ... spearmint, peppermint etc.

Have you ever trying Egyptian mint (Mentha nilacea)? That's the mint I find most pleasing for drinks and other culinary uses. It's quite a bit milder than either spear or peppermint (it's sometimes likened to apple mint, and that is fairly accurate).

There's also long or horse mint (Mentha longifolia) (not to be confused with horsemint as in the Monarda's ) But, in my opinion, that mint is too coarse to eat pleasantly.

However, here I go with my appreciation for herbal drinks in the "mint" family. If you explore a little in something like Richter's catalog, you may come up with more ideas than you can shake a teaspoon at.

It's easy, I suppose, to go astray. I tried lemon bergamot and decided, nope, not for me. Perhaps, reinforcement for an idea that would be new and different would be to check the ingredients on the boxes of herbal teas on the shelves of the supermarket or natural food store. Carry some home and try. That's how I decided to try citrus zest and licorice.

Anise hyssop is just about a pretty enuf plant to deliberately have in the ornamental garden. The bees love it. It was surprising to me that the tractor guy could till over my plants year after year and they would come back in the Spring. I had to pay attention because they certainly wouldn't be in quite the same location in the veggie garden . I stopped sowing seed, which was a mistake because that laziness in waiting for them to show up finally didn't work!

My experiment with lemon balm dry was another fail but, oh well ... It was bland at best.

Steve
darn near ready to grow catnip deliberately

As I have mentioned, I drink a lot of Ironwort/Shepherd's tea (Sideritus sp.), and Richter's DOES carry seed for that. But as that is a xeric plant, you may be too wet to grow it.

The Greeks seem to like it mixed with oregano, but that is a little odd to my tastes.

 

[digitS']

I would have to research

• Mentha nilacea
• Mentha longifolia
• Sideritus sp.

to have the smallest amount of knowledge about them beyond what you have shared @Pulsegleaner .

I have apple mint in the yard but have never used it for anything (it may have gone into DW's sachets).

Steve

 

[Phaedra]

I harvested some mint growing from the runner. Although they grow slowly due to the low temperature and less light, it's the time to pinch for encouraging side shoots.

Fresh mint and dried chamomile, heaven!

 

[digitS']

DD was the person with the stocking stuffers this season - and they were a pleasure .

Two containers of teas. I tried a cuppa the peppermint and licorice root yesterday. (I wonder how I would behave if I lived where licorice grows naturally .) This morning, I have peppermint steeping with the orange zest and dried cranberries. Looking forward to it!

Steve, with peppermint growing in the yard. maybe he will learn to make use of it.

 

[Phaedra]

Okay! 2023 started, so I went outside two hours ago to dig out some volunteer chamomiles. The young plants are tougher warriors than the grown-up ones! The experienced farmer, Charles Dowding, always advises that younger plants can better overwinter, so the time of autumn sowing is important.

These young chamomiles are growing outside the hoop tunnel, as I planted part of my 2022 chamomiles in small containers which sat on the palette (It was proved unsmart, as chamomiles can grow pretty tall). A lot of seeds dropped on the ground; what I need to do is to dig them out carefully and transplant them somewhere else.

Those young plants already had nice roots, so this transplantation aims to offer them a temporary place to stay.

It's also a vertical planting - tulip bulbs are underneath. I will move them again to individual nursery pots, maybe one month later. After all, leaving the surface naked is a waste, and the tulip bulbs won't need that space yet in the coming month.

I got ten plants today and should be able to get another ten later this week. 20 chamomiles should be sufficient for generating the first batch of flowers this year.

 

[Phaedra]

Chamomiles and mints are ready and move into their next inns.

As they are all frost-hardy, they will stay most of the time outdoors with young Asters growing from the basal shoots. This year, I would like to make the previous vegetable patch into a herbal tea garden and a berries garden.

 

[Phaedra]

Chrysanthemum for Tea - two mother plants, nine daughter plants, and another 10 granddaughter plants (not in this photo)

From seeds: Clary sage, Hyssop, and Fennel for Tea

 

[baymule]

Anybody ever dehydrate blackberries to make tea? I’ve got wild blackberries, called dewberries, everywhere.
They are green now but will ripen soon.