Homegrown Herbal Tea

[digitS']

Oh, @Shades-of-Oregon , you are coming very close to my licorice root, lemon verbena and anise hyssop tea.

Monarda and anise hyssop are both of the Lamiaceae family.

And, you remind me that I need to get out today and harvest the anise hyssop. It seems absolutely determined to bloom and I am trying to make use of those stems. If I wait too long, the small flowers fall apart. Harvesting has become a weekly mission.

Steve

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Lamb's ear tea, made from the leaves of the Stachys Byzantine plant which has in my garden for years . The fuzzy leaves dry the same size and don’t shrink up like other herbal tea preps. Health benefits like sore throats and colds .

 

[digitS']

I am having catnip tea after my first breakfast of cold cereal, a microwaved Gala apple and oolong. Could have had just a second cup of oolong, gonna have somewhat of a busy morning and being caffeinated might help.

As it is, DW will wonder why the kitchen smells of catnip when she shows up outta the bedroom. Not a first choice but, this afternoon, I will need to process some of my store-bought ingredients for the licorice/citrus flavors that I prefer.

Report on the Homegrown: The Anise Hyssop is again in its blooming stage and, again, absolutely determined to bloom. I tried cutting one plant to the ground. Instead of tall regrowth, that I could have hoped for, it is sending out shoots not as long as my little finger with a couple of tiny leaves and fingernail size blossoms. After years of growing Anise Hyssop, it doesn't surprise me. I harvested what I think is a good supply for the Winter early in the season.

The 2 Lemon Verbena plants are doing okay and I should be able to gain 2 more good harvests. One immediately and the other, final one after they have gone into the greenhouse but before severe cold. They will go under wraps then until things begin to warm in 2026.

Stevia is not the total failure with losing the 2024 seedlings to mildew and ineptitude. The one plant in the open garden is nearly dead. I harvested a few sprigs earlier but it looks like full sun is definitely not its preference. The 2 plants in the greenhouse look nearly as bad. Scrawny things.

As best as I can guess, Stevias are tropical understory bushes. They may prefer almost total shade and nearly a 12 month season to make much growth. Perhaps, the plants will enjoy being indoors in front of a window this Winter .

Stevie

 

[digitS']

The 2 Lemon Verbena plants are doing okay and I should be able to gain 2 more good harvests. One immediately and the other, final one after they have gone into the greenhouse but before severe cold.

I am learning how last year's crops off 2 LV s surpassed what came off a half dozen Anise Hyssop plants. No, I have already had 2 more LV harvests over the recent 4 weeks and still haven't gotten to the big pruning for Winter of everything green.

The LVs are little shrubs. The AH are herbaceous perennials. Both are determined to bloom during their seasons of growth. The LVs offer the opportunity for harvesting almost continuously and they send up small flower buds with some length to the stems and leaves. Once the seed production genes are triggered, the AH will kick out flowers alone, if need be. I imagine that seeds and petals have the same pleasant licorice flavor but the flowers fall apart immediately upon cutting. They ain't of no cut flower quality for a bokay industry .

It's okay. I have almost doubled the number of Anise Hyssop plants this year and may have a good balance for Winter.

Starting more Stevia from cuttings was a flop. No roots, after weeks in water. I found a bottle of rooting hormone in the garage recently. Hope it is still good. We found that the hormone was unnecessary for DW's house plants. Maybe I can try it for the Stevia in '26. It would also be helpful if I can carry those perennial Stevias over the Winter months. DW may have to tolerate them taking a prime, sunny location on the South Window table to make it possible .