Thursday, April 15

In the tea garden

The tea garden survived the winter. The boys are working with the lemon balm, here. The pineapple sage returned quite beautifully, as did the bee balm. They're so excited!!

Wonder what else we could put in there? What would you plant in a tea garden?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

6 comments:

Spinneretta said...

You really had to ask didn't you? ;)

Chamomile, Lavender, Thyme, Sage (these latter two have some good healing properties), peppermint and spearmint (plant these in a bottomless pot in the ground)...
There are more, I forget them for now.
Why not expand with culinary herbs too? Add in chives, thyme, basil, rosemary, sage, parsley and cilantro.

Dy said...

LOL! Yes! When I think of what I'd like to put in, it does tend to be more medicinal herbs: feverfew, eyebright, licorice, arnica, etc. James wants to keep this portion of the yard a "tea garden only". (I'm going to try to sell him on "medicinal teas" and their many benefits this weekend!)

Chamomile would be wonderful! When Zorak was a teenager, the old Mexican guys he worked with taught him how to make tea from the flowers they picked on the roadside. He still enjoys both the tea and the memories.

I'd thought about putting some wintergreen down, for the berries, as a ground cover, and for the extract potential. But I heard that can be dangerous w/ little ones afoot, so I've got to do more research. But the ones you suggest might just do the trick!

THANK YOU! (This makes it so much fun!)

Spinneretta said...

Licorice can make a tea too!! I have a mad comfrey which is taking over... the boys might go for that since you can mash the leaves to cover wounds ;)
Applemint is lovely too.

Dy said...

I need a good herb book. :-) Thanks for the tips! Licorice tea, yes! And I forgot about the poultice angle. How can that not appeal to young boys, huh?

Spinneretta said...

LOL you'd think anyway :) Keep us posted how it goes :)

There are a number of great herb books out there- including one all about tea gardens!
I have a herb festival I'll be attending here in a week, so I'll see what else I can see :)

Oh- they might like the idea of wormwood or southernwood- wormwood (Artemisia absinthe- yes THAT absinthe), rue and some others were the fabled ingredients in the Thieves Vinegar recipe that supposedly kept the plague away, and southernwood )(Artemesia abrotanum) is an insect repellant :)

Spinneretta said...

http://www.amazon.com/Herbal-Tea-Gardens-Enjoyment-Well-Being/dp/1580171060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271451053&sr=8-1