If you're like me, then you LOVE tea. I usually drink somewhere between 2 and 5 cups everyday (my morning tea is actually 2 cups because I make it in a big tall mug :) ) and I never get tired of it. I'm always looking for new and different flavors to try and brew, but why not just grow it yourself?! No, you probably can't grow a regular tea plant because those are native to India mostly. However, we can grow all the herbal tea we want! These herbs that are best for tea are some of the EASIEST plants all around to grow and you may even be growing some in your backyard without even knowing it. There are tons of herbs that you can use for tea, but I'll share the ones that I enjoy and have grown (or soon to grow) myself.
This is the first step in having homegrown tea. This particular plant is lemon balm, which I got from my mother. Many herbs will easily root themselves in a glass of water. Just snip of a little bunch of the herb and place it in a jar of water. Lemon balm and mint are the easiest herbs to root. Within just a couple days of sitting in water they will have established new roots already and will start to grow. This plant was probably half the size when I took it home about a week ago and it is now ready to be planted.
Step 2: put your rooted plant in a pot with some moistened potting soil. Always remember to use POTTING soil when making potted plants, because the soil in your yard is not the same and your plants may die. Mint and lemon balm may be okay in regular soil in a pot, but they practically will themselves to grow - anything else will die. So this was some spearmint (from my mother again, thanks!) that was rooted just like the lemon balm above and then was placed in this small pot since it was not a large bunch. When you first plant your rooted herb into a pot place it somewhere not in direct sunlight. I have a small table underneath a windowsill that works pretty well. Wait a few days till it starts to grow and then place it in the windowsill. If you put the plant outside too soon it will wilt, which I found out by experimentation. Once the plant is well established and has been growing a while, it is safe to put outside. Mint and lemon balm are happy in part shade/sunny areas. Too much sun could burn them so give them a bit of shade. This will easily grow into a large sprawling plant that begs to be picked for tea!
These are my two mints that I grew from bunches that bought from the farmer's market. Each bunch was a good handful for $1 each, which is a great buy. Within a couple days the mints had roots. I have had these plants for about a month or so and they are doing very well. The top, darker plant is chocolate mint, which smells like a peppermint patty and the bottom is peppermint. The mints will stay a light green while they are inside, but once they are out the stems will darken a bit, especially the chocolate mint. These will stay in pots until we move into a new house this fall. Mint is best kept in a large pot either sitting outside or buried in the ground. If left to its own devices, it will take over all your other plants. Mint and lemon balm grow fast and easy and will crowd out other plants. Also, if you have different mint varieties, keep them apart from each other and pinch off the flowers so they don't cross pollinate. There are many different varieties of mint including orange, chocolate, cinnamon, ginger, pineapple, and many others. If you every come across someone that has a different mint than you, offer to do a trade or ask for a cutting to grow your collection! Remember to cut the tall, lanky stems when harvesting your mint to encourage it to grow into a large bushy plant.
Mint and lemon balm are the only two tea herbs that I have experimented with so far, but mint is my absolute favorite herbal tea so I am definitely not bored. Mint is great for relaxation and to help an unhappy tummy and it tastes great. I add just a tiny bit of honey to my mint tea, which is all the sweetener it needs, if any at all. When making tea with fresh herbs, let the boiled water cool a bit before pouring it over the herbs because boiling water is too hot for fresh herbs and will ruin the yummy oils. This herbs are also very easy to dry. Tie them into small bunches and hang in low traffic doorways or lay them out on a baking pan to dry somewhere out of the way. Where we live right now I have a heating monitor that is great to dry herbs on.
So cut a few stems of mint or lemon balm and you'll have a potted plant within a week and enjoying some lovely herbal tea. These are by far the easiest plants to grow and to make more plants of yourself. They need very little care and even if they do go un-cared for for a bit, they will come right back with a little extra water and attention.
