Your Own Tea Garden
By Rebecca Maxwell
Imagine walking out of your house every summer morning, warm sun on your arms, bare feet on the cool grass, wicker basket and scissors in hand. You look over your beautiful garden and decide what tea to make for the day. Are you going to work and want something in your water bottle to remind you of joy and sunshine? Is this a day at home to create a blend that nourishes you as you rejuvenate? Or are you having guests and want a pleasant tasting and beautiful tea in your clear glass pitcher on the checkered cloth table? Having a variety of herbs and flowers on hand can fulfill your daily tea needs.
The word “tea” around the world to refer to a specific plant, Camellia Senensis. This is the plant that, when processed in various ways, produces white, green, and black tea. This is the tea in Chai, Earl Grey, Matcha, and Irish Breakfast blends on the market. Colloquially, the word “tea” can also mean “anything from a plant that you stick in water and then drink.” (Tea snobs—I mean, enthusiasts—will use the word “tisane” for other plant infusions.)
For all of human civilizations, every culture has their own local herbal teas they use for nourishment, illumination, and delight. Planting your own garden of plants for tea is a fullfilling way to connect to the land you live on as well as your ancestors. It’s also much easier than a vegetable garden, and is beautiful.
Herbs are a natural pesticide, in fact, the natural insect repellents for sale at the co-op contain the scents of most herbs you can grow in your garden. This means you rarely have to worry about pest problems attacking your plants- they don’t like them. This includes insects as well as rodents.
Herbal gardens are easy and beautiful. Mine is in my front yard and regularly gets compliments by my neighbors. Many herbs taste best before they flower, which means, trimming the tops of the plants on a regular basis for your tea. However, if you forget and they do flower? It becomes a decorative floral garden for visual enjoyment.
Some flowers are part of your herbal garden. Flowers that make good teas include: lavender, elderberry, nasturtium, borage, echinacea, clover, and thyme all have yummy tasting flowers for tea.
If you don’t have a yard, containers on a porch or windowsill are the perfect size for herbs. This is also a way to have herbal tea all year round. I recommend buying a heating mat in the winter for your indoor plants who may struggle if you keep your house cold (like I do.)
Find your local herbs! One way to connect to your land is by using native plants. Native flora are healthy for the soil, encourage native bugs and birds, and help reestablish a natural ecosystem. By embracing our local ecosystem needs, we help with air and water quality, and keep the planet thriving.
Who are your ancestors? Putting in an herb or flower from your ancestral country is a fulfilling way to connect with your lineage. Drinking the teas your DNA remembers is a healing connection, even if it’s many lineages! Always check if it’s an invasive species before putting in the ground. Containers and indoors are perfect for non-native herbs.
I have one main herbal garden and then herbal plants and flowers growing all around my house. This year I have: thyme, echinacea, lavender, anise hyssop, lemon balm, mints, elderberry, rosemary, cilantro, and yarrow. My current favorite herbal tea is: anise hyssop, mint, and lemon balm.
You can find many herbs for sale at the co-op. I encourage you to incorporate herbs into your existing garden, or try something new!
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