PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Searching The Meadow.....

One of my childhood memories on my
Grandparents farm...

Going there in the evenings during the summer with my daddy
and picking Meadow Tea...

Meadow Tea grows wild and spreads very
quickly in any area it grows...

Meadow Tea is a Mint/Spearmint flavor
and is so refreshing on a hot summer day...

During a conversation with friends last summer
as we sat around our pool,
the topic of Meadow Tea was mentioned.
To much surprise, our friends were growing
this tea in their small garden at their Townhouse.
I came home several days later to find a bag filled with
a rooted plant of this wonderful tea.

I found a plastic container not in use,
my husband removed the bottom as instructed:/,
I filled the container with a good potting soil
and planted the tea plant in the container.
My husband then planted the container, bottomless
about 1/4 into the ground.
This enables the roots to grow beyond the container and
draw nourishment from the area as though
it was planted directly into the ground, while the container keeps the plant growth under control and raised for easy pickin..

It was near the end of summer when the plant was
transplanted, so I did not get enough leaves to make tea last year...
But this year we got lucky..!

Yesterday was my first picking for the summer,
I was able to make a large pitcher of this,
oh so wonderful tea....

Place the tea plants in a pot of water, bring to a boil
and then simmer for about (1) hour...
Remove the tea from the water and drain through a very fine strainer or cheese cloth...
You can add sugar to taste if you wish and then refrigerate.
I prefer my tea unsweetened.























My container of Meadow Tea growing in an area along side my brick walk...






Container growing is a great way to grow this tea if your limited for space,
the confined area allows you to keep the growth under control....
Other wise, it will over take a large area where planted and you'll have a
never ending job of thinning it out..

My first taste of this tea yesterday took me back to my days on the farm,
hand in hand with daddy as we walked to the meadow in search of our favorite
summer time drink...

1 comment:

  1. I just got a tea plant from a friend last year too! It's in a container on our deck. It must be a different variety than yours because the leaves are much larger and it's growing up from a cental stem. I've never done tea straight from the leaf before and I'm not sure if there is a strategy to it. Like do I just pick the leaves off at the stem? How much can I pick without ruining the plant?

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the visit....! I encourage and look forward to your thoughts and comments. Many Blessings...K