Growing Your Own Tea Garden E-Book

Jodi Helmer

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 146

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Inspiration and instructions for growing delicious tea from a variety of plants. · 87 percent of Millennials drink tea. · Millennials are also avid gardeners— The National Gardening Association reports that ages 18–34 are the fastest growing segment of food gardeners, up 63 percent since 2008. · Jodi Helmer writes on food and farming and has appeared in Entrepreneur, Hemispheres, Civil Eats, National Geographic Traveler, AARP, Farm Life, WebMD, Health, CNNMoney and Guardian Sustainable Business.

Leseprobe

Growing Your Own

TEAGARDEN

Growing Your Own

TEAGARDEN

The Guide to Growing and Harvesting Flavorful Teas in Your Backyard

JODI HELMER

Growing Your Own Tea Garden

CompanionHouse Books™ is an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

Project TeamVice President—Content: Christopher ReggioEditor: Colleen DorseyCopy Editor: Katie OcasioDesign: Llara PazdanIndex: Jay Kreider

Copyright © 2019 by Jodi Helmer and Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Fox Chapel Publishers, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

ISBN 978-1-62008-322-2

The Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the Library of Congress.

This book has been published with the intent to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter within. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the author and publisher expressly disclaim any responsibility for any errors, omissions, or adverse effects arising from the use or application of the information contained herein.

Fox Chapel Publishing903 Square StreetMount Joy, PA 17552

Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.7 Danefield Road, Selsey (Chichester)West Sussex PO20 9DA, U.K.

www.facebook.com/companionhousebooks

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

Printed and bound in Singapore20 21 20 19     2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

DEDICATION

For my late grandmother, Veronica Thomas, who always made sure the kettle was on.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing a book is a lot like brewing the perfect cup of tea: it takes the right ingredients and enough time to steep.

I’m grateful to Diane Daniel for introducing me to Bud Sperry at Fox Chapel Publishing and trusting good things would happen, and thankful that Bud believed in this idea and encouraged me to turn a passion into a manuscript. My dear friends Megan Bame, Heather Rice Books, Polly Campbell, Kate Hanley, Wendy Helfenbaum, Beth Howard, Kelly James, Judi Ketteler, and Rosie Molinary, and my family, Hank and Dianne Helmer, Shannon Helmer, and Charlotte McKinnon, supported me during the writing process.

My final and most heartfelt thanks is for my husband, Jerry, who is my favorite person to share a pot of tea with.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TEA

CHAPTER 2: CHOOSING PLANTS FOR YOUR TEA GARDEN

Tea (Camellia sinensis)

Leaves

Flowers

Fruits

Roots

CHAPTER 3: BREWING THE BEST TEA GARDEN

Best Practices

Garden Designs

CHAPTER 4: FROM CULTIVATION TO CUP: MAKING THE PERFECT CUP OF TEA

Brewing

Preserving the Harvest

Recipes

Plant Hardiness Zone Maps

Resources

About the Author

Photo Credits

Index

PLANT INDEX

TEA (Camellia sinensis)

White tea

Green tea

Black tea

Oolong tea

LEAVES

Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)

Apple mint (Mentha suaveolens)

Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Bee balm (Monarda fistulosa)

Blackberry (Rubus sp.)

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)

Catnip (Nepeta cataria)

Chickweed (Cerastium arvense)

Chocolate mint (Mentha × piperita ‘Chocolate’)

Cilantro/Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)

Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus perriniana)

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

Holy basil (Ocimum sanctum)

Lavender mint (Mentha × piperita ‘Lavender’)

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus)

Lemon verbena (Aloysia citriodora)

Marjoram (Origanum majorana)

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin)

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita)

Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans)

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Sage (Salvia officinalis)

Spearmint (Mentha spicata)

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)

St. John’s wort (Hypericum calycinum)

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria)

FLOWERS

Calendula (Calendula officinalis)

Chamomile (Matricaria recutita)

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea)

Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)

Jasmine (Jasminum officinale)

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum)

Purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)

Red clover (Trifolium pratense)

Rose (Rosa sp.)

Skullcap (Scutellaria incana)

Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

Tufted violet (Viola cornuta)

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

FRUITS

Black currant (Ribes nigrum)

English hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata)

Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

Rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa)

Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina)

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa)

ROOTS

Burdock (Arctium lappa)

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Ginger (Zingiber officinale)

Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius)

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra)

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)

INTRODUCTION

Some of my earliest and fondest childhood memories involve tea. My grandmother used to pour us each a cup of tea in her no-nonsense mugs, filling hers with steaming black liquid and a splash of milk, and preparing mine in reverse—a full cup of milk with just a splash of tea. We’d dunk homemade peanut butter cookies in our mugs and declare it a tea party.

While my tea preferences have changed—now, I prefer a strong, bitter cup of black tea, no milk, first thing in the morning; mint tea in the evenings; and something sweet, floral, and iced when it’s sweltering outside—my love affair with tea has endured (and I still enjoy the occasional tea party, especially one that includes a fancy hotel and finger sandwiches). There is something so soothing about a cup of tea—the way its warmth transfers from the mug to your hands, how the scent of it is like aromatherapy, how a sip is both familiar and new, the way you can put together just the right variety to fit the mood or fix what ails you.

Despite being a lifelong tea drinker, it had never occurred to me to grow all of the ingredients to make my own tea. The inspiration hit three years ago at a garden center where, standing in front of vast metal racks filled with peppermint, spearmint, chamomile, lavender, and lemon balm, I thought, “This looks a lot like the tea aisle at the supermarket.” An image of a backyard tea garden flashed in my mind. Cue a cart filled with herbs and some bags of soil, and a few hours later I had all the makings of a great cup of tea right outside my back door. Every time I head outside to pick a fresh cup of tea, I remember my grandmother and feel a sense of gratitude for the continued comfort this ritual she taught me has brought me over the years.

This is the last time I saw my grandmother before she passed away—and she was enjoying a cup of tea, as always.

Judging from the explosion of options in the grocery store aisle, I know I am not the only one with affection for tea. Maybe you brew a cup of tea in the morning for a quick pick-me-up, use an herbal blend to ease digestive upset, or wind down with a steaming mug before bed. Maybe you host tea parties for the children in your life or your sewing circle or book club. Even if you are an old hand at growing tomatoes or herbs like basil and rosemary, it may not have ever occurred to you that your tea could come from your own yard, too. Instead of reaching into the cupboard for a supermarket tea bag, you can plant a tea garden and then enjoy clipping fresh herbs such as chamomile, lemon balm, basil, and peppermint for your own signature brews.

A tea garden provides instant access to fresh, flavorful herbs and allows you to get creative, mixing different plantings to create one-of-a-kind blends. And while it might seem daunting or fancy, growing the ingredients for tea is actually a great project for both beginners and experienced gardeners. Most herbs are easy to grow (most will thrive in pots on a sun-drenched windowsill), and making flavorful tea can be as simple as steeping a few freshly plucked leaves in boiling water or as complex as drying herbs and combining multiple ingredients to make custom brews. Whether you’ve never tended to a plant before or have a large garden and want a new hobby, starting a tea garden and sipping fresh, flavorful garden-to-teacup brews is a great way to embrace your fondness for this classic drink.

Disclaimer: This book is not a field guide; it’s not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease. I am a gardener and tea drinker, not a doctor or nutritionist. Although I did extensive research to ensure accuracy, you must make sure to positively identify all plants before eating leaves, flowers, fruits, and roots. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have adverse effects. Avoid consuming any unfamiliar plants. Consult with qualified health professionals to verify the health benefits and safety of consuming plants.

CHAPTER 1

A BRIEF HISTORY OF TEA

In this chapter, we’ll take a look at where tea comes from, how it spread across the world and across the centuries, and what the tea landscape looks like today. By knowing the history of our preferred beverage, we can make informed choices about what we sip and why we want to sip it.

Tea has been cultivated for centuries, with the earliest records dating back to 2732 BC, when, according to legend, Emperor Shen Nung first drank tea after leaves from a Camellia sinensis bush—that is, the tea plant—drifted into his pot of boiling water. More reliable records show that tea was included in the medical text De Materia Medica, which was first published around 200 BC.

As tea started becoming more popular as a drink, not just a medicine, the cultivation, harvesting, and processing of Camellia sinensis started. During the Tang Dynasty (618–906 AD), often referred to as the classic age of tea, the botanical beverage became known as the national drink of China; tea was sipped and savored from the Imperial Palace to rural villages. Tea also became the centerpiece of spiritual rituals. During the Tang Dynasty, Buddhist monk Lu Yu wrote Ch’a Ching, a tea treatise that centered Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian teachings around traditional tea ceremonies.

De Materia Medica has been published in many languages throughout the centuries, but it always contained useful information about helpful plants—including tea.

What Is a Tisane?

Some of the most popular “teas” are not tea at all. True tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant; herbal teas, including popular brews such as chamomile and peppermint, are considered tisanes.

Tisanes (pronounced ti-ZAN) are made from ingredients such as herbs, flowers, fruits, bark, and roots but no white, green, black, or oolong teas. (The French word for “herbal infusion” is tisane.) Rooibos (pronounced ROY-boss), also known as African red tea or red bush tea (because it’s made from a South African rooibos plant), and yerba maté (pronounced YER-ba MAH-tay), a South American botanical brewed from a plant in the holly family, are also considered tisanes.

Unlike true tea brewed from Camellia sinensis leaves, which contain up to 90 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce (240ml) cup, tisanes are caffeine free. These teas, also called infusions or botanicals, can be sipped hot or iced.

Rooibos creates a beautiful red tea.

Saichō first planted tea seeds in his monastery in Japan, Enryaku-ji, which you can still visit today.

Another Buddhist monk, Saicho, is credited with introducing tea to Japan in the ninth century. It’s believed that the monk fell in love with tea while studying in China and brought Camellia sinensis seeds back to his monastery in Japan. There, the delicate green tea leaves were ground into powder, called matcha, which remains popular in Japan and worldwide.

Toward the end of the seventeenth century, camel trains operating along the Silk Road transported tea between China and Russia. In 1610, the Dutch East India Company brought the first shipments of tea to Europe. The beverage became popular in cities, including Amsterdam, and, before long, shipments were making their way from Dutch ports to the rest of Europe, including England, where the piping-hot beverage was first served to the public in 1657. Thanks to the high price of tea, it was enjoyed only by the royal and aristocratic classes. It wasn’t until a hundred years after the first tea was imported to England that tea houses and tea gardens started popping up around London, and tea became the national drink of the British Isles. So, while England might have a well-deserved reputation for serving high tea—with crumpets, of course—the British were in fact late adopters of tea culture, and some of their knowledge of tea cultivation and processing were gathered using questionable methods.

The Buddhist monk Saichō, pictured, introduced tea to Japan in the ninth century.

The Dutch East India Company used ships like these to develop and dominate the tea trade between Asia and Europe.

At first, tea was expensive and therefore only enjoyed by the rich.

An English afternoon tea, complete with scones, finger sandwiches, and pastries, is a treasured cultural activity in the country today.

In the 1700s, the British East India Company purchased a tea factory in Macao, China, and dominated the tea trade, exploiting its trading position for profit and political power. England was reluctant to depend on China for its tea, however, so in 1848 the British East India Company sent botanist Robert Fortune on a covert mission to China to collect Camellia sinensis seeds and plants while gleaning knowledge about how to grow and process the beverage. Fortune disguised himself and snuck into the interior region of China—an area forbidden to outsiders—and shipped 20,000 tea plants to India, where the species was tested in gardens across the nation, including the now-iconic tea regions of Assam and Darjeeling. The British government started developing tea estates across India, ending their reliance on China for tea.

Tea pickers are hard at work in the state of Assam, India.

Iconic in American history, the Boston Tea Party treated tea as a symbol of oppression.

Just as Holland introduced England to tea, Dutch settlers also brought tea to America. The upper class who settled in New Amsterdam, later renamed New York, started drinking tea in the 1600s. The British East India Company secured a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies after British parliament passed the Tea Act on May 10, 1773. The legislation angered colonists, and, on December 16, 1773, a group calling themselves the Sons of Liberty boarded ships anchored in the Boston Harbor and dumped 92,000 pounds of tea into the water. The event came to be known as the Boston Tea Party.

Pressure from independent tea merchants like Richard Twining uncovered corruption within the British East India Company and put pressure on the British government to end the monopoly on the tea trade. The campaign was successful, and the British East India Company folded in 1874, opening the door for America to import tea directly from China. Clipper ships began transporting the commodity across the ocean.

Twinings, founded by an independent family of tea merchants who ultimately helped end the monopoly on the tea trade, remains one of the most successful and iconic British tea brands today.

Worldwide, China still dominates tea production, harvesting more than 1.8 million tons of tea each year. In addition to China, the rest of the top ten tea-producing countries are India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Iran, and Argentina. The United States might not be a top cultivator of Camellia sinensis, but it is a significant importer.

Approximately 80 percent of Americans are tea drinkers. Nationwide, we consumed 84 billion servings of tea—almost 4 billion gallons (15 billion liters)—in 2016, making the United States the third largest importer of tea in the world, according to the Tea Association of the USA. Americans prefer their tea black or iced, but with more than 3,000 varieties of tea available, the options are almost limitless. Thanks to strong demand, US growers are experimenting with the crop and producing small-batch artisanal teas with some success.

Teas and infusions are incredibly popular in the United States, with a large variety available on standard supermarket shelves.

The rolling, stepped hills of Chinese tea plantations are where the most tea is produced in the world.

A LOCAL TEA MOVEMENT IS BREWING

Tea is growing—literally—in the United States. Minto Island Growers started growing Camellia sinensis on a half-acre plot in Salem, Oregon, hand-picking and processing the tender leaves to make small-batch tea. The interest in their domestic tea was so strong—the loose-leaf black, green, and oolong teas were selling out within weeks of their spring production—that husband-and-wife growers Elizabeth Miller and Chris Jenkins planted 20 additional acres of Camellia sinensis between 2016 and 2017, selling upward of 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of organic teas under the Minto Island Tea Co. brand. Miller told NPR, “It’s the energy and enthusiasm from consumers that’s propelling us forward. People are really excited to have tea that is US-grown.”

The Charleston Tea Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina, has been growing tea since 1987 and was the sole commercial tea grower in the nation for a long time. Now, the US League of Tea Growers reports that there are sixty farms in fifteen states growing Camellia sinensis