How to Grow a Tea Garden

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By Dusty Mills
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CAMELLIA SINENSIS - THE ONLY TRUE TEA

Are you a tea lover? Tea is just one of those perfect drinks, excellent hot or cold. Did you know that you can grow your own tea, right outside your kitchen door and it can be fresh and organic. Growing your own herbal tea is a wonderful use of gardening space, because you can cook with the herbs as well as make tea.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

PEPPERMINT

There is only one true tea plant, the Camellia Sinensis. All varieties of tea are from this one plant and the drying process is what determines the different types of tea. This article is about herbal tea, not truly a tea at all, but a liquid derived from the steeping of herb leaves. When you grow your own tea leaves you know they are fresh and if you garden organic, you know that there is no added chemicals in the plants. The first tea leaves I ever used were from the mint family. I've always grown spearmint and at first just would pick a fresh sprig and use it in a pitcher of lemonade. I would also dry the spearmint and use it in my homemade soap. Both of these are wonderful uses for the spearmint, but then I made a pot of hot tea using the dried leaves, and it was simply wonderful. And the fun part is when you add other dried herbs and give it additional flavor.
Step 2

ROSEMARY

You can use any herb for making tea, some herbs though are safe but not really suitable, such as basil and oregano, although this is just my opinion, you might like basil tea! I grow the aforementioned spearmint, lemon balm, camomile and lemon verbena. These all make excellent tea as well as rosemary, anise hyssop, sage and thyme. I also like to use my lemon grass, it goes perfect in a cup of tea and can be mixed with any of the herbs for a really fresh taste.
Step 3

CAMOMILE FLOWER

Ideally, you should grow your herbs organically, actually anything you ingest is much better for you if it has not had any chemicals added to the growing medium or sprayed on the leaves. There are no special herbs just for tea, any and all herbs can be dried and used to make tea. It is really nice to used dried herbs to steep the tea and then add a small sprig of a fresh herb to the pot or individual cup. It is also quite good to mix your herbs for something a little different. For instance, lavender tastes very good mixed with camomile, while remembering that you only use the flowers of the camomile plant for tea, the leaves are quite bitter.