The Two Sides of Tea

Tea is one of those versatile beverages that offers coziness from the cold and quenches in the heat. Besides its warming and/or cooling attributes, teas also have many curative properties and taste lovely. As one anonymous author says, “Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea.” This simple but poignant perspective leads me into my next thought. Those packaged boxes of tea can come at a dear price. So if you like to steep warm drinks on the drizzly days of April or create iced brews on those steamy July evenings, why not plan for planting and collecting your own stash of herbs to steep in the pot?

A handy little pamphlet (it can’t quite qualify as a book with 31 pages from front to back) might give you the inspiration you need to grow the perfect herbs for your tea garden. Marian Sebastiano gives you the ’15 Herbs for Tea’ as well as a bit of history, some planting tips, and everything that goes into harvesting, drying and storing your concoctions. There are some interesting recipes as well - all within an hour’s read.

When you check out the 15 herbs she recommends for tea, you’ll be interested to note how many are part of the mint family. Mint is an easy, low maintenance, non-fussy herb to grow so no excuses for why you can’t plant at least some of the 15 herbs for your tea pot. There is always a sunny window, a spot on a balcony terrace or a raised bed in the backyard. And as Alice Walker points out, “Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors.” Remember the two sides to tea. Refreshment in the heat and warmth in the cold – it’s time for tea. Annie

Image of tea and herbs from the Internet

Post on our fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bilowz-Associates-Inc-Our-Blog-Annies-Gardening-Corner/325316334444 or http://www.facebook.com/abilowz or follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/annbilowz.  For anyone subscribing via email that prefers to reply direct, agbilowz@comcast.net or you can always post your comments on the blog.