Time for tea

 Each year around this time, my beautiful tea Camellia begins putting on new growth, and it's time to harvest the first flush of leaves! Last fall I pruned my Sochi Camellia, which increases the number of new leaves to harvest.

Over a decade ago, my friend Nikki and I began growing Sochi Camellia sinensis. The most northern tea, this variety grows in Sochi Russia near the Black Sea, and is well suited to our latitude at nearly 45° N. 

It is both aromatic and frost Hardy. While the flowers are small (about the size of a strawberry flower) its mature leaves are about the size of those on my ornamental Camellia. I dry some of the flowers in January which can be used for a light and fragrant tea. 

CODEX with tea Camellia blossom

Several years ago, Nikki invited me over for a tea party, both teaching me the process, and sharing afternoon tea from a previous harvest when finished. She sent me home with a basket of fresh leaves we pluckedfrom her bushes, which I augmented with leaves from my own for a second batch. 

It is such a satisfying process, and I'm always struck by the fragrance of the leaves as they dry. As this Camellia association article notes, few people realize that whenever they sit down with a cup of green, black or white tea, the brew comes from Camellia leaves! 

Camellia sinensis Sochi

High in antioxidants, especially catechins, green tea is preventative for cancers, lowers the risk of stroke, and helps control blood sugar. In Okinawa Japan, one of the "Blue Zones" for longevity, drinking several cups of green tea daily was common. They often added jasmine flowers and a bit of turmeric for shan-pien, "tea with a bit of scent."

Harvest - 24 hour rest

The leaves are resting in three baskets, and around 3:30 this afternoon, I'll begin the next steps of the process, which you can find here and here.

Do you grow herbs you use for herbal Tea? I have a number of those as well, and enjoy their medicinal qualities and varying flavors.

Tea Time

My first tea Camellia

I began growing tea Camellias over a decade ago, with pink and white flowered plants which lasted several years. I later found the variety from Sochi, Russia, (near the Black Sea) which does better in our more Northern clime, and my shrub is 6-8 years old. 

My British friend Nikki has a "plantation" of 9 tea Camellias in her city garden, which is a lovely mix of ornamental and edibles. Last week she mentioned beginning this year's tea harvest, and I asked how she processes it, she responded by inviting me over for Tea and a lesson! Nikki is a Brit, with roots in Belgium, and loves her tea! 

Several years ago, Nikki attended a varietal tasting with a Tea Master, was entranced with the different flavors. When nearby Red Ridge Farms, where we purchased our tea plants, offered a workshop for processing green tea at home, she was in! The teacher had lived in China with his wife while she studied acupuncture, and learned from Chinese tea masters, and gave a step by step process suitable for small batches.

Our tea time yesterday began the afternoon before, when Nikki plucked sprigs of the top two or 

Harvesting of tea in China, Tao of Tea

three leaves from several tea shrubs, which she prunes in the fall to produce a tea harvesting "table." My own plant is "wild grown," not pruned, so pruning next fall is on my list!

When I arrived, she brought out the basket of leaves which had wilted overnight, and were ready for the next step, placing the leaves in a wok on high heat, and tossing gently for a bit. Nikki asked me to bring old well washed cotton cloths, and we tipped the leaves onto a square, twisted the ends to form a ball, and rolled / kneeded the tea, while the oven heated to 400°

The next step was several rounds in the oven, in flat pans, then tipping back on the cloths to cool down in between rounds. (3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute) Each stage includes gently tossing and handling the tea. 
One of the magic bits is how fragrant this fresh tea is as it begins to dry, with a flowery, almost Jasmine odor! Who knew? After the last round, we left the tea on the cloths, while we headed out to the garden, and "plucked" a new batch of tea tips! It sprinkled earlier in the afternoon, we were grateful the sun was back out, and the tea wasn't too damp.

Freshly harvested tea leaves

She'd had me bring a basket without a handle for this step, and we plucked into the basket, tossing the tea leaves frequently. This tossing will continue today, (the leaves are already getting fragrant!) and I'll prepare a second batch this afternoon, on my own! 

After gathering some garden goodies for me, lettuce, artichokes, herbs, ... we came back inside, and had a lovely tea, sipping a brew from leaves she harvested and processed just this week, in glass tea cups from Belgium, which a cousin sent! 
Our tea included thyroid healthy snacks suggested by Medical Medium Anthony William: four banana slices topped with red dulse, several celery slices and a date, (and a bit of dark chocolate just for fun!) 

It was a lovely afternoon, and I'm looking forward to my own adventures in tea making! 

Tea on the drying racks

From the fairy garden

A couple of weeks ago I went on a sweet self-guided bike tour of 4 local veggie gardens. I DID ride my bike, & began at my friend Ellie's - she & her hubby have gardened almost 20 years on their HUGE plot, three terraces, they RARELY buy any veggies (don't even buy starts!) ... They have a lot that goes down to the creek (they don't garden the floodplain area - & have a deer fence between the 'tame' & bottom land.) Though it's mostly a 'practical' garden, with flowers relegated to flower beds around the house, one planting that I want to imitate - asparagus with Bells of Ireland!

The second garden I visited was a plot more like mine. Mike's (pictured above) is a normal size city lot, with mounded beds, a few sheds, a little spiral herb garden, several Orach - the red plant top Rt in pic., he gave me a seed head!! I had read that there are enzymes in the seed casing that help the seed sprout, so seed of this quinoa relative is a welcome gift!
In the front yard, Mike used sheet mulch in a large area & planted fall crops. He also has corn, beans & squash (3 sisters) in a garden in front - along with sunflowers & other big plants. He had a chicken 'tractor' (w/1 chicken) & a rainwater catchment ...
Both Mike & Ellie grow 'Black Aztec Corn' - Mike grinds it for cornbread, & Ellie's husband parches the kernels. All the gardens use drip irrigation & had late summer/fall plants - carrots, chard & spinach, cabbage, beans, leeks, tomatoes & tomatillas. Mikes also had currents & blueberries, while Ellie has an espalliered fruit orchard, persimmons, grape, fig, thornless blackberry ...

The next plot was a CSA on a city lot - Paul doesn't like mowing lawn, so put in raised beds when he moved in a couple of years ago, ordered mushroom compost, & began gardening! (goodness, wouldn't folks who object to veggies in front yards have a conniption fit!) He grows enough on one lot to feed his own & several other families (the CSA runs 20 weeks). His was the only garden with boards around the beds - the others use mounded systems.

And last was the Community Garden on Salvation Army land - both individual plots, & ones that are harvested for food boxes. They did have a few 'boxed' beds, but most were also mounded. A local shop owner (who has her 'sunny garden' plot here) buys cut flowers from the Community Garden! Folks with individual plots work in the community area several hours every month, & pay a very modest fee for their rows.

I have been perusing gardening books for ideas on cover crops & what to plant late summer/ early fall, & crop rotation. I planted carrots, salsify, buckwheat & radishes in one side of the old garlic bed, & beets, buckwheat & radishes in the other. Borage comes up on its own in that bed.

In a bed close to the quinoa, I put winter spinach, chard, arugula, lettuce mix, Endive, scatter planted corn salad, & edged with parsley, corriander, calendula & nasturtium seed. I have a sweet little pottery 'hedgehog' for sprinkling the seedbeds with.

On Monday (Labor Day) I did the 'soil balancing process' from Machaelle Small Wright's 'Garden Workbook' series. (check out her entry on 'gut gardening' to get started!!)
I'll write more about this process later - basically, you use soil amendments in a 'homeopathic' manner, working with Nature to balance & vitalize the soil. Machaelle writes: "The soil balancing & Stabilizing Process impacts the soil's vitality & not its physical fertilizer levels. However, when you use this process, you will find that the soil will test for fewer fertilizer needs. The process will have improved the soil vitality, which allows for more efficient interaction between plants & their surrounding soil."

On Friday, picking a book I'd requested up from the library, I also came home with 'Gaia's Garden, a guide to homescale permaculture.' WOW - lovely book! I can see that several of Mike's garden ideas came from this book, including the spiral herb garden! I'm attending a Permaculture 'Convergence' mid-October, so this is a timely read.

In Gaia's Garden, Toby recommends sheet mulch to prepare new ground, & occasional 'hugelculture' plots - using brush that you tromp down, then pile on mulch, top w/compost or an inch of soil & plant. (he says potatoes & squash LOVE these 'mounds') He gives of ideas for garden communities - broadcasting several kinds of seed over the same area, & what to plant in succession in those gardens; for conserving water, thinking beyond the vegetable garden, etc.

The last couple of days I've been working up several areas, trying the sheet mulch & a hugelculture mound.
The pic with the tall grass (above) shows this area in the middle of May, when I was cutting the grass with a hand sickle. I just piled the grass in heaps on the areas I didn't work up. My raspberry patch is in the back of this pic.

In August I dug the bed on the Right (next pictures) over a couple of days, & dug in a bag of mushroom compost, some lime, kelp, & other soil amendments. The bed on the L has been covered with the thick layer of mulch, & is ready for the last layers of compost & top mulch. These beds join in a U or 'keyhole' shape, with the top of the bed also being covered in mulch.

For sheet mulch, begin the day before by thoroughly watering the site you plan to mulch, & gather your materials. The next day, slash any vegetation, leaving it in place to compost (I'd done that in May, & covered with the layer of dry grass). Cover with a thin layer of soil amendments (lime, bone meal, kelp, etc) & open the soil a bit by wiggling a spading fork in different areas, if needed.
Add a layer of compost or green plant matter (I used chopped comfrey leaves & compost) ~ 1" thick - sprinkle with water.
Next layer is cardboard (I had several big boxes from my office) or 1/4-1/2" of newspaper - no glossy sheets - very wet. Overlap 6", & wet this layer (I sprayed the back of the cardboard before laying it down.
Next layer: another thin layer of manure/compost/greens
Next: 8-12" of loose straw, hay, leaves, grass etc - with some green matter mixed in, or blood meal etc (for nitrogen) ... wet layers as you add them - should 'be the consistency of a wrung out sponge' (Bed on Left, above, is covered with this mulch layer)
Top with another inch of compost or soil (last picture)
And mulch with 2" 'weed free' matter: straw, pine needles, wood shavings.

I used pine needles from my daughter's yard for the final layer of mulch (they are quite happy to pass them on, esp if I gather them!), & planted with seeds as the sun was setting: lettuce mix, buckwheat, spinach, onions, calendula, beans & borage.

A gal friend is giving me strawberry starts soon, so I looked up companion plants for strawberries. Years ago I planted strawberries in an herb circle, & made a LOVELY patch! I'll get some thyme plants from Incahoots, & perhaps plant some other low herbs around the edge ...
Rather than digging or tilling these beds, you simply add compost & mulch occasionally, push the mulch aside to plant or seed the compost layer. You can also dig kitchen waste directly into these beds, rather than the compost bin.

Enjoy your garden adventures!