The Herbal Tea Garden
herbal tea
Hot or ice cold herbal tea is a great drink to quench your thirst and give you a sense of overall well being.
Herbs can be grown outdoors in a regular garden bed or in containers on the deck. I would place an outdoor herb garden as close to the house as possible so that it is only necessary to take a few steps to pick some fresh leaves or flowers for your favourite tea.
It is not difficult to create your own herbal garden, even if you have only a small space or a patio or balcony. Herbs do well in containers as long as they get the sun and water they need. However, a sunny kitchen window sill is also a great place to grow herbs.
The first step in designing your herbal garden is to determine which herbs you use or which herbs you wish to use. Why you want to use them is less important and is up to you to decide. I use herbs for beauty, fragrance and cooking.
Mint grows and grows and grows spreading by stolons. It is best grown in a container so that you do not spend a considerable portion of your gardening time, harvesting and then getting desperate, as it spread just trying to get rid of it.
Chamomile is another plant that will spread and spread which means it is also a great container plant. I enjoy a cup of chamomile, maybe with a drop or two of honey, in the evening before bed. Keep the containers on the deck near the kitchen door or even on the front porch if that spot gets at least six hours of sunlight each day.
You can dry herbs for making teas and sue them fresh.
Making Chamomile Tea:
You will need 8 oz of water for each cup of tea you plan to make. Bring the water to a boil. Use dried or fresh flower. If you are using dried two tbsp is enough, if fresh, then use four.
The tea can be made stronger by adding more flowers. To pour use a small tea sieve placed over the cup; the sieve will catch the flowers which can be added to your compost.
If you like add some organic honey or a touch of lemon.
Herbal tea makes a fine gift for friends and family and I find it warms me deeply on the long and cold winter nights.
- Tea Time with Herbs
How to use herbs to make teas, includes descriptions of plants used to make herb teas and suggestions for tasty combinations.
- Herbal tea
An herbal tea, tisane, or ptisan is an herbal infusion not made from the leaves of the tea bush. Tisanes can be made with fresh or dried flowers, leaves, seeds or roots, generally by pouring boiling water over the plant parts and letting them steep f
