Sunshine in a Zip-Lock!

[digitS']

It is all gone - summer warmth and today, sunshine & blue sky . . . .

The nighttime darkness is already impossibly long. Confused by the recent time change and after a fairly busy day of running, I was in bed by 8:30 . . . up at 2:30am .

Anyway, it has been daylight but snowing for awhile and now I've got my cup of herb tea: lemon verbena & licorice mint. MMM mm!

I tried freezing the lemon verbena a year or 2 ago and it worked just fine. This year, I froze my licorice mint (anise hyssop). I don't know why I didn't do this before rather than drying! It's great!

Anyone else grow tea herbs this year :coolsun??

Steve

 

[Mickey328]

I know what you mean Steve...by 8pm it feels like midnight to me. Amazing how just one hour changes things.

Not an "herb" per se, but I lopped some nice milky tops and straw from my oats. Pretty bland as a tea but jam packed with all kinds of good stuff. I flavor it with fennel and peppermint. I only just got the chamomile in this spring, so no harvest from it yet. Got some nice orange mint as well and lemon balm.

Freezing is great for them but mine all get dried...freezer space is scarce around here, so everything I can put in a jar, I do, LOL

 

[digitS']

Mikey, somethings I prefer dry, at least, dry to fresh.

I haven't tried catnip frozen yet but fresh isn't nearly as good as dried, IMO.

Chamomile is wonderful but I planted it in a bad place, I guess. After lying on the ground to harvest a very few tiny flowers, I vowed to just buy it at the store. A few plants came back the next year. I suppose that it didn't make much seed. As I say, it must have been a bad location . . . too much shade.

Steve

 

[Mickey328]

Yeah, like most, they like the sun. Ours did quite well, but since there were only a few flowers, I let them be and hope for a harvest next year.

You're right...some are much better dried. But then you get some like Fever Few...which is just nasty, no matter what ya do, LOL. Not sure where they came from, but our whole front yard has been colonized...and they seem to prefer the shade. I've got enough tincture now to treat an army of migraines!

 

[digitS']

I've got some feverfew around here, too.

Some of these cures . . . I think the body just says "OMG! I'd better straighten up so as not to get that treatment again!!" Of course, the body forgets. There's no way that I would willingly drink something made with feverfew! Wouldn't want to put my innocent body thru such an experience !

Chamomile with spearmint is my best choice for a mint tea and I'm not much interested in mints, generally. Those 2 go real well together .

Steve

 

[RustyDHart]

It is all gone - summer warmth and today, sunshine & blue sky . . . .

The nighttime darkness is already impossibly long. Confused by the recent time change and after a fairly busy day of running, I was in bed by 8:30 . . . up at 2:30am .

Anyway, it has been daylight but snowing for awhile and now I've got my cup of herb tea: lemon verbena & licorice mint. MMM mm!

I tried freezing the lemon verbena a year or 2 ago and it worked just fine. This year, I froze my licorice mint (anise hyssop). I don't know why I didn't do this before rather than drying! It's great!

Anyone else grow tea herbs this year :coolsun??

Steve

Steve...I grow the Anise Hyssop as well.....use it all the time for tea.... I also grow Lemon Balm (2 varieties)....Choc. Mint, Peppermint, Spearmint, Kentucky Colonel Mint, Lebanese Mint, Apple Mint, Pineapple Mint, Orange Mint, and Ginger Mint....along with a few different varieties of Thyme, Pineapple Sage and Lemon Verbena. Relaxing during the coldest days of Winter.

 

[hoodat]

Don't forget that Thai or Mexican basil. Personally I think they're the same plant. Drop a sprig into the tea right after the water stops boiling. That cinnamon/clove fragrance really smells great.

 

[digitS']

I'm glad that others are finding herbs that suit their tastes as a tea. It is relaxing and pleasant to enjoy something, often, on not an otherwise comfortable winter day.

I've got something new that I should have tried while there was a few extra sprigs on the plants. Hopefully, the plant has made enuf growth that it can both be propagated and produce a crop next year. It is "basil mint" or, that's what the plant marker said it is. The idea fits with my appreciation for licorice flavor. Why that doesn't translate to a tea with basil itself, I don't know. I certainly use basil in noodle soups and much prefer it to oregano in what I think of as "Italian" dishes. I've got my favorite varieties.

I bet herbs grow differently in different gardens and my oregano, for example, may be in completely the wrong place with so much shade on those plants. Still, it grows well - just doesn't appeal to me, flavor-wise. But there is a wonderful lot of herbs and putting them in boiling water to steep for a few minutes is awfully simple. The combinations are many and if something with a licorice flavor doesn't quite "do it" for you - give it a try with the addition of another flavor like something of a citrus nature. Lots of exploring to do . . .

Steve

 

[Carol Dee]

Steve, I have been wanting to add lemon verbena to my herb bed. I already have spearmint and choc mint, plus the anise hysop. When should I have harvested the hysop? I missed it this year.

 

[digitS']

Carol Dee, the lemon verbena is just an outstanding herb! It can be used in food! Well . . . I suppose you know that. But, some folks put it in salads and such. We have it with fish sometimes but it gets quite a bit of competition from lemon basil & dill for that.

You probably can't get it thru the winter outdoors, however. It is cut way back and on the floor of my unheated greenhouse right now. I'll protect the roots from freezing when the temperatures go too low.

I decided to wait until the anise hyssop began to bloom before harvesting the leaves and flower buds. That was fine but this was the 1st year for me to do that. The plants didn't come back very well . . . I only got one cutting and altho' it bloomed again, the plants were so small I didn't bother to take anything more off them. Fortunately, 1 cutting should get me thru the winter. I certainly do not use as much of these tea herbs as I use oolong, in the same amount of water.

Steve