Introduction
A few years ago some pesky mint appeared in my garden and began to spread, crowding out carefully cultivated annuals and perennials. I was beginning to plan a massive eradication program, when I came across a recipe for mint tea. Well, I thought, why not try it? The raw ingredients certainly were available. So I pulled up a few handfuls of mint and brewed my first cup of home-grown tea. It tasted great. So great, in fact, that the endangered garden mint took on new significance and was spared. The following year I planted lemon balm, fennel, marjoram and thyme, and tried those recipes, too. The result? I became hooked on herbal teas.
Later, I learned tea is drunk more than any other liquid except water. Throughout recorded history tea has been used to sustain life, enhance sleep, restore health, and ease conversation, to name just a few of its uses. Some people like it hot. Some like it cold. Some like it mixed with sugar, lemon, honey, milk, or with stronger stuff, such as gin or brandy. And some like it straight.
In the narrowest sense of the word, tea refers to the leaves or flower buds of shrubs in the genus that was named Thea sinensis by Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. Since Thea sinensis tea is a close relative of the camellia flower, it is sometimes referred to as Camellia thea or Camellia sinensis. Broadly speaking, however, tea is any drink made from steeping fragrant leaves, berries, seeds, flowers, roots, or bark in boiling water.
Imported Thea sinensis teas all come from evergreen plants of the same genus. Lapsang souchong tea is a smoked version of Thea sinensis leaves, and black, green, and oolong teas can also be made from leaves of the same plant. They differ only in the degree of fermentation they have undergone during processing. Most imported teas are grown at high altitudes where it is continually hot, wet, and very humid. Darjeeling tea, for example, comes from the mountains of Darjeeling, in India.
Imported Thea sinensis teas traditionally have been served side by side with teas made from herbal leaves plucked from the garden. Indeed, the decision to serve Thea sinensis teas rather than herbal teas has often been made more for reasons of prestige than for taste.
As coffee prices have gone sky-high, so too has the price of store-bought teas escalated. But as I found, you can easily grow and brew exotic herbal teas, full of tastes and aromas you never believed possible. The cost to you is a few pennies a cup; the experience is priceless. Herbs that make exciting teas can be grown in your garden or in flowerpots on your windowsill, whether you live in southern California or northern Nova Scotia, in London or Sydney.
This book gives you all the information you need to brew the perfect cup of herbal tea. It spells out how to grow the plants, harvest the tea components, prepare and store the ingredients you'll need, and mix them for interesting blends. You'll learn where to buy seeds and plants. You'll even find where to buy bags and containers in which to package your own "private label" blends. Sound complicated? It's really easy once you know how. And, while you're harvesting herbal teas either on a small or grand scale, you can also use them as potpourris, fabric dyes, garnishes, and seasonings for the cooking pot.
People have always sworn by the medicinal qualities of herbal teas. While health authorities, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration frown upon claims that herbal teas can actually cure ailments, millions of people maintain they do. I'll outline some of the medicinal uses to which herbal teas have been put. But by no means are the herbal teas described in this book presented as prescriptions for medical ailments. Clearly, as with any medical problem you may have, it's important to consult a professional practitioner for diagnosis and treatment.
This book is the only guide you'll need to take the journey of taste discovery that comes from brewing herbal teas. Let us take that trip together.
======================
1. A brief history of tea
Deep in the misty mountains of China, the Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, sat in a garden near the emperor's palace, meditating on the perfection of Buddha. Called Ta'Mo' (White Buddha) by the Chinese, the swarthy, rotund saint had come to China from India bearing the sacred bowl of his ancestors. Ta'Mo' vowed to demonstrate his devotion to Buddha by sitting before a wall and meditating for nine years.
Spring turned to summer; autumn came with crisp air and colored, falling leaves. Still Ta'Mo' meditated. Winter came and covered the saint's cloak with snow as he sat unblinking and unsleeping. Finally, after many years had passed, the Bodhidharma's attention wavered, his chin dropped, and his eyes closed in sleep.
When Ta'Mo' awakened-perhaps a day, perhaps a year later-he was so angry with himself for neglecting his meditation that he took out a knife, sliced off both his eyelids, and threw them to the ground. The saint's eyelids took root in the rich soil and grew into a tea bush, the symbol of wakefulness.
This is the most popular of the legends about the origin of Thea sinensis, the botanical name for what is commonly called the tea plant, which we associate with black, green, oolong, and orange pekoe teas. Like other stories about the origin of tea and the rituals of tea drinking, fact and fiction are intertwined so thoroughly that it is hard to separate them.
The discovery of Thea sinensis tea
Ta'Mo' died about 530 A.D., but the Chinese claim they discovered the tea plant much earlier. They called it "the gift of heaven," and it was mentioned, along with other herbs used for medicinal purposes, about 2737 B.C. in the writings of the legendary emperor Shen Nung.
According to legend, Shen Nung observed that people who boiled their drinking water remained healthier than those who didn't, so he always made sure his water was boiled. On a trip to a neighboring province, the emperor's servants started a fire to boil water for him. As the water was heating, a breeze blew some of the tender leaves from the uppermost twigs of the firewood into the pot. Attracted by the fragrance of the resulting liquid, the emperor "tasted it and found it good," as the saying goes. Thus began a tea-drinking custom that has persisted to this day.
Originally the tea made by infusing the Thea sinensis herb was used only as a medicinal brew, as were teas made from many other herbal plants. Thea sinensis tea soon became a popular beverage because of its flavor, and the word tea came to be associated with this plant.
Although the cultivation of tea began in China, it gradually spread to Japan and the rest of the Far East. It was not cultivated in India until 1832, when the British introduced it there, long after it had become a popular beverage in England and the United States.
Derivation of the word tea
The word tea has an interesting history. When Thea sinensis tea was first introduced in England it was pronounced cha or tcha from the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects spoken in Macao, the port from which the tea was shipped. When a Cockney housewife says it would be nice to have "a cup of char," she is speaking perfectly respectable Chinese, a holdover from the original word. Later tea was imported to England from the Chinese port of Amoy. In the Amoy dialect, it was called t'e, and it was from this word that the word tea was derived.
The word tisane came from the Latin ptisana and the Greek ptisane. Originally, tisane meant pearl barley and barley water, but over the years it has come to mean any infusion of herbal leaves in boiling water.
Tea comes to England
No one knows for sure exactly when Thea sinensis tea was first brought to England, but in 1658, an enterprising merchant named Thomas Garway placed an advertisement in the publication Mercurius Politicus announcing that: "The excellent and by all Physitians approved China Drink, called by the Chineans Tcha, by other nations Tay, alias Tee, can be procured at Sultaness Head Cophee-House in Sweeting's Rents by the Royal Exchange." Garway extolled the medicinal qualities of tea as a stimulant. He wrote that "tea removeth lassitude, vanquisheth heavy dreams, easeth the frame, and strengtheneth the memory. It overcometh superfluous sleep, and prevents sleepiness in general, so that without trouble whole nights may be passed in study"
Dutch ships from the Orient brought tea, along with other "riches of the rising sun" to Holland, and from there Lords Ossory and Arlington began bringing consignments of tea to England.
What started as an infant trade quickly became a rage. Soon Thea sinensis teas were being served in all of England's most famous coffeehouses.
As the popularity of tea drinking grew, tax revenues from the sale of beer and wine declined. To compensate for this loss of income, in 1660 Charles II imposed the first English tea taxes, paving the way for a thriving black market in tea.
The earliest American settlers did not share the English passion for drinking imported teas. Tea drinking was probably introduced to the colonies somewhat later, by the burghers of New Amsterdam. William Penn brought Thea sinensis tea to the Quaker colony he founded in what is now Delaware in 1682. But by the 1750s, American colonists were quaffing tea as heartily as the English.
Early recorded uses of herbal teas
Herbal teas, other than Thea sinensis, have been brewed for thousands of years. The earliest records talk of using herbs for healing rather than flavoring. In 410 B.C., Plato mentioned herbal teas in his writings. Seventy years later, Aristotle discussed herbal teas, and his disciple Theophrastus wrote a detailed work, "On the History of Plants," which described the uses of herbs. Herbals with detailed illustrations, and instructions for brewing herbal teas, have been revised and expanded ever since.
The Roman statesmen Cicero, Seneca, and Pliny the Elder practiced advanced forms of horticulture and wrote about their experiences. Pliny's Natural History (77 A.D.) affirms the importance of growing herbaceous plants both for kitchen and medicinal uses. He outlined how to plant, transplant, and harvest them. Pliny also spelled out the medicinal uses of each herb, and also how to administer each one -as lotion, powder, or tea. Many herbal teas were to be brewed with water and vinegar, he said, which may explain why herb teas weren't popular as beverages until later, when they came to be brewed in water alone. His descriptions of the juices and flavors of each herb characterize savory and wild marjoram as having "an acrid taste," others as being "sweet" or "pungent."
Pliny catalogued the germination times of many herbs, noting that some plants continued to appear every year, while others had to be newly sown from seed if they were to come up again. "No seed is more prolific than basil," he said. "They recommend sowing it with curses and imprecations to make it come up more abundantly."
Wealthy Romans took their herb culture seriously. The mild Italian winters still were not quite warm enough to keep some tender herbs from being destroyed, so plants were placed under thin sheets of mica (plate glass had not been developed yet) to protect them from the chill.
And warm water was often piped around the roses, which were particularly admired for both their beauty and medicinal qualities.
Herbal teas in the New World
In England, herbal teas were widely cultivated and used. When the Pilgrim fathers sailed to the New World, they brought seeds or plants of their favorite herbs with them. Most larger houses had both an herb garden and a "still room" for cultivating herbs.
While the tea of Thea sinensis remained the favorite herbal beverage, those who couldn't afford it continued to make teas from other, more easily accessible herbs. Chamomile, peppermint, and elderflower teas were especially popular.
One herbal tea beloved of the colonists was Oswego tea, made from the dry flower heads of American wild bergamot (Monarch didyma), also called bee balm. (The resulting liquid tastes like one of the scented Chinese teas) Some say the colonists learned to make Oswego tea from the Indians, others that it was devised as a New World version of a European tisane.
After the Boston Tea Party, patriotic ladies banished imported tea termed "the baneful herb" by the clergyman and educator John Andrews-from their tables and turned to domestically grown herbal teas. They called these beverages "liberty teas." Some of their herbal combinations-made from mint, balm, rosemary, and sage-are still favorites today.
After the Revolutionary War, the Americans imported tea directly from China, and Thea sinensis became easily attainable and inexpensive once again. A few of the more flavorful herbal beverages were still used, but most home-grown teas were returned to the medicine chest. Imported herbs were now also easy to come by, for those who wanted them, so the cultivation of herbs declined, too.
It wasn't until the outbreak of World War I that England and America were faced with the unpleasant realization that they had become largely dependent on German sources for medicinal and cooking herbs. There ensued an upsurge in home-grown herb cultivation.
Recent growth in the herbal tea market
The use of herbs in cooking has never been as great in England and America as in France. Recent interest in gourmet cookery, however, has meant that more people are using herbs in the kitchen. Along with this development has come a marked increase in the consumption of herbal teas.
The natural foods movement has also contributed to the growing appreciation of herbs-they have no food additives, artificial coloring, chemically produced flavors, or caffeine. The discovery that caffeine is not only an artificial mental and physical stimulant but also an addictive substance has caused the health-conscious to turn more and more to herbal teas. For while coffee, cocoa, and Thea sinensis teas contain caffeine, herbal teas do not.
For many years a favorite only with health-food devotees, herbal tea is becoming universally popular. In Europe, herbal tea sales have soared from 5 percent of the tea market several years ago to more than 60 percent today. In the United States, growth has been more moderate, but sales have improved each year.
Packaged herbal teas now account for about 10 percent of the United States tea market, up from virtually nothing fifteen years ago. Twenty years ago, the industry leader, Celestial Seasonings, Inc., wasn't even in business. In 1975, five years after it began marketing colorful little boxes of herbal teas through health food stores, the company broke the $1 million mark in sales. Sales doubled in 1976. In 1981, gross revenues rose to over $23 million. Celestial now sells about 4 million pounds of herbs a year.
Sensing a sharp inroad into the China tea market, the two large American tea companies, Lipton and Bigelow, recently jumped onto the herbal tea bandwagon. Sales of herbal products in the United States are now estimated at between $150 and $200 million a year, with packaged herbal teas accounting for about $90 million of the total. The Food and Drug Administration entered the herbal tea picture a few years ago, ordering two companies to stop producing sassafras tea, an age-old prescription for upset stomach and for nerves. When boiled, sassafras releases a substance called safrole, a known carcinogen which the FDA has banned as a food additive. Researchers later discovered a person would have to ingest more sassafras tea in a day than most people do in a year in order to get the same concentration of safrole that had produced some cancers in laboratory animals, so the ban on sassafras tea has been lifted. There is no doubt, however, that excessive use of certain herbal teas can be injurious to your health.
Dr. James Duke, head of the Medicinal Plant Resources Laboratory of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, believes stevia and catnip are hallucinogens if taken in excess. He also maintains that arnica, belladonna, bittersweet, helbane, hemlock, and secuda, commonly sold for herb teas, are poisonous, and that bloodroot contains some of the same alkaloids as opium. This has made it a rage in some circles for making "high" tea.
Despite these gloom-and-doom announcements, however, most herbal teas are beneficial, not poisonous, if drunk in moderation.
One of the most highly touted herbal teas is ginseng. Tour any herb store or Chinese emporium and you will see a hefty display of it. Ginseng is believed to increase sexual potency, lengthen lifespan, and produce a feeling of well-being. Korean red root ginseng, Korean white root ginseng, Manchurian ginseng, Manchurian red ginseng, Canadian ginseng, and, for the connoisseur, Imperial Chinese ginseng, are considered the finest ginseng teas available. They are thought so potent that they are usually taken only once or twice a year. One variety of ginseng, Panax quinquefolium, is grown in the United States, although it is difficult to cultivate.
The FDA concerned itself with ginseng for a while, but doesn't anymore. FDA laboratory tests indicated ginseng has no effect on the body whatsoever, though satisfied ginseng users beg to differ.
Producing enough herbs to meet the new demand for herbal teas has become something of a problem. Since they must be picked by hand, most herbs are grown in Third World countries where labor costs are low. Many herbs are also picked wild, or are purchased from small growers with backyard plots.
Controlling quality by growing your own herbs
Harvesting, processing, and shipping delicate herbs grown in many different places can make quality control difficult. You can surmount these problems, though, by growing herbs yourself. You won't be growing them in such great quantities that pickers will be hard to find. You can sort and prepare them, keeping their quality as refined as your taste. And you can experiment with blending them, augmenting the blends with a few ingredients from your local herb supply store.
Herbs you grow for tea also make good additions to salads, soups, or main dishes. Extras can be used in potpourris, sachets, herbal butters, and vinegars, or to make decorative, long- lasting floral displays that scent your home long after the growing season is past.
People with vegetable gardens-and it is estimated that close to one-half of all families in the United States now grow some of their own food-find herbs are easy to grow. In fact, mint, bergamot, chamomile, and dandelion have been growing around us, wild, all along. So let's move on to the practical business of growing these herbs, and many others, and discovering just how easy it is to brew your own herbal tea delights.
======================
2. Guide to cultivating herbs
The most pungent herbs are said to grow on rocky hills near the Mediterranean coast. There, in poor, dry soil where the sun beats down on them all day, a high concentration of essential oils (which are what give herbs their flavor and aroma) builds up in the leaves. This is nature's way of keeping the plants from drying out and dying. Early growers tried to duplicate the austere environment of these native plants. They believed poor soil, little water, and hot sun would guarantee the most aromatic basil, thyme, and rosemary. No matter that they had to harvest half an acre of plants for a few handfuls of leaves; the taste and aroma made it all worthwhile.
Today's herb gardener has neither the space nor patience to grow stunted, small-leaved plants that yield one teapot's worth of herbs when the garden is stripped. Fortunately, plant geneticists have developed herbal strains that have large amounts of essential oils in their leaves but are also big and bushy plants that thrive in good, well drained soil.
The indoor gardener, using improved seeds and plants, as well as modern growing methods, can get a fine yield of herbal tea from a single potted plant placed on a windowsill or under grow-lights. The outdoor gardener can derive immense satisfaction and a gratifying crop from a small herb plot tucked in a sunny corner or on a small patch of ground near the kitchen door.
Whether you're starting your herbs from seed, nursery plants, or cuttings or rootings given to you by generous friends, you'll want to ensure their success by providing them with a good growing environment.
Preparing the soil
Most of today's herbal strains do nicely in aerated soil that is well drained, crumbly, and enriched with a moderate amount of fertilizer or organic matter to supply the plants with nutrients.
To check how good your soil is, insert a spading fork to its full depth. If it goes in easily with little or no effort, you're lucky-you probably already have ideal soil for your herbal teas. If it scrapes or won't go in all the way, you'll have to do some work. Usually, this will mean adding conditioners. Most soils benefit from the addition to their bulk of up to 1/3 peat moss, compost, sawdust, or leaf mold, well mixed, to a depth of at least 1 foot. If you have clay soil, you'll want to add even more of these conditioners to get an herb planting bed that will provide good drainage and enough friability so the root systems will remain moist (but not soggy) and will spread easily.
If you have impossibly heavy clay soil or an impermeable layer of hardpan not too far below your planting surface, you can create a raised planting bed filled with a more desirable soil mix. Raised beds can be surrounded by bricks, railroad ties, rocks, boards-anything sturdy enough to keep the earth contained. Incidentally, a raised bed not only guarantees good drainage but also becomes warm and dry earlier in the spring, allowing you to plant sooner than at ground level. For this reason, many gardeners whose soil is good still prefer raised planting beds for their herbs.
Avoid preparing your soil on a day when the earth is wet and sticky and will compact. You can test for the right time to cultivate by taking a handful of earth and squeezing it together into a ball. Press this lump gently with a finger of your other hand. If it holds together, the ground is too wet to work. If it crumbles, it's time to roll up your sleeves and start digging.
Be sure to distribute soil conditioners evenly throughout the mixture. Start by spading your bed to the depth of the spading fork, so that it's loose. Then spread the organic materials over the surface and systematically dig them in. As you insert your spading fork, turn the soil to one side or the other so that the organic materials trickle through the tines of the fork and down the face of the soil the full depth of the spade. This way you avoid leaving the soil on top of organic matter that is buried in a layer underneath.
You may work the soil several times before it is the right consistency, but once you've paid your gardening dues by creating a good planting bed, it can be maintained easily for several years and will reward you with bigger, healthier plants.
Checking soil acidity and alkalinity
After you've worked conditioners into the planting area, you should check the pH factor-acidity or alkalinity-of the soil. The pH scale runs from 0 at the acid end to 14 at the alkaline end.
Most herbs do well in a fairly neutral pH range of 6.0 to 7.5.
To determine the pH factor of the soil in your garden, you can test a sample of soil yourself with the type of kit sold at most garden centers. These kits are simple to use.
If you find the planting mixture is too acid, mix 5 pounds of agricultural limestone into each 100 square feet of planting area to raise the pH by 1/2 to 1 point. If the mixture is too alkaline, add 3 pounds of iron sulfate or aluminum sulfate to each 100 square feet to lower the pH by 1/2 to 1 point. For the few herbs that prefer more acid or alkaline concentrations, you can spot work these minerals into the soil around the plant.
Planning for outdoor planting
If you're planting seeds outdoors, plan carefully where you want to put them (see chapter 3 for full information on planning your garden). By planting right where the plants will be growing, you'll know exactly which herbs are where (but it's still a good idea to use label markers to help jog your memory). Also, you can thin the herbs in place; and you won't risk loss from later transplanting.
Water your planting area well the day before you plan to seed. This way, newly sown seeds will get the necessary moisture to help them sprout, and there will be less likelihood of washing them out just after they've been planted. Make sure all danger of frost is past and that the soil has begun to warm up. If there is a short growing season in your area, slow- growing plants with long germination periods should be planted earlier, indoors or in a cold frame, then transplanted into the garden when they're established. Otherwise, they won't yield a crop of any significance before the end of the growing season.
For centuries gardeners have considered moon phases when planting seeds, because of the extra light, darkness, and/or gravitational pull provided by the lunar cycle. Generally, it's believed annual herbs (which live one season only) should be planted during the first ‚ or second lunar phase. Biennial herbs (which live two seasons), should be planted during the third or fourth lunar phase. Perennials (which may live many years) should be planted during the third lunar phase. However, all root crop herbs should be planted during the third and fourth phases, when added darkness helps them send their roots deep into the ground. More exact planting time can be determined by consulting your newspaper (the weather report usually shows moon phases) or an almanac.
Presoaking seeds
Many herb seeds are slow to germinate but sprout more quickly if you soak them in water before you plant them. The night before I'm going to plant indoors or outdoors, I put seeds of each herb into separate saucers filled with water. I place the seed packet under each saucer, so I'll know which is which when morning comes. Then I lock up my cats, so they won't help themselves to a nocturnal drink from the saucers or mix up the seeds. In the morning, I remove excess moisture from each saucer with a sponge and the tip of a paper napkin. Then I plant my seed varieties one by one.
Planting seeds outdoors
If winters aren't too severe in your climate, you can plant dill, borage, and other slow- germinating seeds outdoors in the fall. They'll come up nicely in spring. Fall planting should be done before autumn frosts begin, but late enough in the season so that seedlings won't emerge before winter only to be killed when cold weather arrives. Check seed packets for average germination periods and for instructions on planting in your climate.
Before you plant, make shallow scratch lines with a hoe or trowel to guide you when sowing. Place seeds in the furrows, and cover them lightly with soil. Seed packets usually spell out how deep seeds should be placed-this varies from herb to herb. If planting depth isn't spelled out, a good rule of thumb is to plant seeds to a depth of two to three times the diameter of the seed.
Make sure the soil covering the seeds isn't lumpy or heavy. You can sift it over the seeds through a screen, making sure it is even and fine.
After you've covered the seeds, firm the planting area with your hand or a board. If the surface has dried out, moisten it lightly with a fine spray of water, being careful not to uncover or dislodge the seeds. In the days that follow, continue to keep the soil damp (not soggy) by watering with a very fine spray.
Many herbs are look-alikes as seedlings. Some, like oregano and marjoram, continue to look like one another even into maturity. Don't count on your memory to remember which herb is which or you might be in for some unpleasant taste surprises when you brew the herbal teas. Label seed rows or planting spots with plastic or wooden markers, using a waterproof, indelible pen. I use 1-inch-square stakes about a foot long, which I drive into the ground 6 inches deep so they won't be uprooted. Each stake is prominently marked with a wide tipped pen. If markers become dirty and hard to read after a couple of years, I pull them out one by one, sand them lightly, and relabel them.
Annuals and biennials usually germinate more quickly than perennials, but some biennial herbs (like parsley) take a long time to appear. Be patient. If you're using good new seed, have planted properly, and haven't had an excessively cold or rainy spell, the little plants will ` probably emerge just as you're giving up hope. Remember, though, most herbs germinate best at 70º F (21º C) or warmer, and they prefer 60º to 65º F (15º to 18º C) temperatures once they've sprouted, which is not easy to accomplish outdoors. That's why many gardeners prefer to start seeds indoors under more manageable conditions.
Thinning seedlings
Whether you're planting outdoors or indoors, thin the seedlings after two pairs of true leaves develop, so the remaining plants will have enough room to develop. Try to snip or pinch off weaker seedlings (pulling them up can sometimes uproot good ones), even if it means transplanting strong ones that have sprouted in one area.
In hot weather areas, leave plants closer together so foliage will shade the soil. If necessary, you can thin again when the seedlings are larger.
By all means, save the little plants you've gleaned when thinning. If leaves are the part of the herb used to brew tea, treat yourself to a cup as a reward for your efforts!
Planting seeds indoors
Less hardy herbs, or those that take a long time to germinate, can get a head start if you plant them indoors 6 to 9 weeks before the last frost is expected.
You can plant in ceramic, plastic, or peat pots, or in wooden or plastic flats (trays). All containers must have holes in the bottom to provide good drainage, and must be scrubbed absolutely clean so they won't transmit disease to new seedlings via plant pests still lingering from previous plantings. Wooden flats, in particular, may continue to harbor disease-causing organisms. I sterilize mine by putting them into a 160º to 180º F (71º to 82º C) oven for about half an hour. The stench is awful as they're "cooking," but the results are good.
Once they've cooled, fill your planting containers with a good sterile potting mix. You can buy this ready-made, or, if you prefer, you can make your own. One commercial herb gardener who grows thousands of plants each year asserts that gardeners who make their own herbal planting mix will get good results by combining 1 part each of soil, sand, peat moss, and perlite. This mixture is good for both indoor and outdoor herb planting.
No matter what planting mix you decide to use, screen it through a I/4-inch mesh screen (hardware cloth) to break up the particles.
If you're using garden soil and compost, you'll want to make sure the mix is sterile. Bake it in a 160º to 180º F (71º to 82º C) oven for about 2 hours. Once again, the smell will be strong. Plants potted in such soil are unlikely to get damping-off disease, a fungus which attacks seeds and tiny seedlings.
If you want to prevent damping-off disease without sterilization, you can saturate the planting mix with a solution of commercially prepared fungicide. You can also make your own fungicide by mixing 2 parts of finely ground copper sulphate with 11 parts of fresh ammonium carbonate. Store the mix in an airtight glass jar. When you need a solution, dissolve 2/3 ounce of the mixture in a little hot water. Then add enough cold water to make 1 gallon. Store the solution in a plastic or porcelain container (not a metal one) and use it immediately.
Organic gardeners, who shy away from chemical additives, maintain that they can control damping-off disease by:
Once you've filled your planting container with potting soil, tamp it down gently to 1/2 inch below the top of the flat or pot and water it well.
If you're sowing several rows of herbs in a flat, make shallow indentations about 2 inches apart for each row. I use a pencil length pressed into the mix. Sow seeds in the rows, labeling each row with a wooden or plastic marker, and cover the seeds lightly with sifted planting mix. If the seeds show when you water or mist them, it means you haven't covered them deeply enough, and should sift a little more soil over them.
The best way to water newly sown seeds without disturbing them is to place the planting containers in a tray of water. Allow them to soak until you see that the top surface is thoroughly wet.
Annual, biennial, or tender perennial herbs that originated in hot climates usually germinate better if the seeds are kept fairly warm. You can accomplish this by putting an electric soil- warming cable (available at garden supply stores) on the bottom of the flat and keeping it plugged in until the plants have emerged. Or you can place an incandescent lamp under the flat to warm the bottom, keeping the temperature at 70º to 75º F (21º to 24º C).
Providing adequate light
The best place to put flats or pots is in a window in direct sunlight where they'll get heat and light all day. If your window doesn't face due south (or north in the Southern Hemisphere), you'll have to rotate the flats and pots to keep the plants growing straight.
If you don't have a sunny exposure, you can use fluorescent grow lights. The usual arrangement is two tubes, 24 or 48 inches long, in a commercial shop-type fixture. Mine are suspended from heating pipes in my basement by chains attached with S hooks at the fixture end. a This way I can raise or lower the lights to accommodate growing plants. I plug the fixtures into automatic timers, allowing from 12 to 16 hours of light per day.
Regular fluorescent lights can also be used, but they lack some of the benefits of grow-lights, which are designed to promote plant growth. Some gardeners who have sunny windows use grow-lights as well to ensure a longer day for their plants.
Begin by placing newly seeded flats and pots only 3 or 4 inches under the fixture so emerging seedlings won't become "leggy" trying to reach the light. Once the plants have established a couple of sets of leaves and are doing nicely, you can move the lamps up, or the plants down, depending on your arrangement. Make sure the plants never touch the lights.
If the herbs are in a dry place, mist them daily, but be sure you do this early in the day so they dry thoroughly before the lights go off or the sun goes down. Otherwise, they may develop fungus disease.
But, you say, why should this be? After all, dew forms on outdoor plants at night, and they dolt get mildewed. That's true. But outdoor plants have constant ventilation, which can't be duplicated in indoor growing situations.
Be sure to thin indoor seedlings, just as you do outdoor ones.
Transplanting
Seedlings grown indoors in flats or pots, plants raised in the nursery, or cuttings or rootings taken from other plants should all be transplanted carefully if they're to make a successful transition to the hostile outdoor environment with its variations of temperature, wind, and moisture.
To prevent transplant shock, you can "harden" indoor plants by introducing them gradually to the harsh world outside. A few days before the transplanting, place them outside in a warm, sunny, and protected spot. Leave them for a few hours each day, but be sure to bring them safely indoors if the sun stops shining, the temperature begins falling, or whenever wind or cooler weather threatens. After a few days of hardening, your plants should be acclimatized and ready for outdoor planting.
Transplant on a mild, overcast day or just before sunset, when the sun will not beat on the relocated plants. The dark and dew of night helps them recover before morning.
If you must transplant on a sunny day, be sure to protect the transplants from excess heat and light by constructing a cheesecloth umbrella suspended on stakes, or by pushing a shingle, floor tile, or leafy twig into the soil on the sunny side of the plants to shelter them.
To move seedlings, lift them out of their growing containers one by one. Pry up the root system of each with a plant marker, tongue depressor, or spoon, trying to keep as big a ball of soil around the roots as you can. Steady each little herb plant as you move it by gently holding a leaf (not the tender stem, which can easily snap) and lower the root ball into a prepared moist hole. If you've planted in peat pots, you can place each seedling in its hole, pot and all. Expanding roots will grow through the disintegrating pot.
Firm the soil and make a little saucer-like depression around each seedling to catch and hold moisture. Try to set plants no deeper than they were when growing indoors. If, however, they have become "leggier" than you would like, set them a little deeper so they can support themselves without falling over.
Keep transplanted seedlings well watered, making sure you don't uncover the roots or knock them over with too heavy a spray.
Incidentally, you can use this same method if you decide to transplant seedlings indoors because your plants are too crowded, or are coming up all in one spot and not in another.
If you're transplanting nursery plants, try to transfer all the planting mixture surrounding the roots to the transplant hole without disturbing the plant. Tap the pot sharply to loosen dirt from the edges, or if the plant is in a plastic compartment, squeeze the compartment gently to dislodge the mass of soil surrounding the roots. This is easier to do if you do not water plants just before you transplant them. If the soil around them is too moist, it's likely to crumble when you try to remove the plant from its container. If it's drier, it will usually stick to the plant roots and come out in one mass.
If soil does fall off the roots, or if the growing mixture hasn't adhered to the roots, spread the roots in the planting hole gently so they're not in one clumped mass. Then carefully firm soil around the plants and water them well.
Larger nursery plants, rootings, or cuttings don't need quite as much protection from the sun after transplanting as do tiny seedlings, but it's best to transplant on a calm, overcast day or late in the afternoon.
Whenever you're moving plants, be sure the transplant hole is good-sized, so you can surround the newly planted herb with plenty of loosened, prepared soil. And work up the soil in the bottom of the hole to give the roots a soft cushion to rest on.
If soil in the transplant hole isn't the right mix, dig a much larger hole-one big enough to hold the root system of the herb when it reaches maturity. Then replace the soil that was in the hole with the proper planting mix.
When transplanting, don't rely on memory to tell you where you put each plant. Many herbs change appearance considerably as they mature, so it's important to label your transplants just as you would seeds, at least until you've been growing herbs for so many years that you're thoroughly familiar with all stages of their development.
Watering tips
You'll want, of course, to give special attention to the watering of seedlings, nursery plants, cuttings, or root divisions just after you've transplanted them. But there are other general watering tips to bear in mind.
When planning your garden, group herbs that require lots of water in one spot so that they can be sprinkled or soaked at the same time. The herbs that require less moisture should be clustered together to avoid over watering them when you're tending the rest of your garden.
Herbs like thorough and deep waterings, rather than frequent shallow ones which don't penetrate to the bottom of the root ball.
Mulching
You can cut down on watering if you spread 1 or 2 inches of mulch around your herbs, tapering off to about 1/z inch near the stems.
Ever since Ruth Stout advocated heavy mulching in her book, How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back, mulching has been regarded as a new phenomenon. Actually, it is a natural process, millions of years old. As leaves fall to the forest floor, they protect smaller plants during severe weather, and as they decompose, they form soil-enriching compost.
Whether it occurs naturally or through the efforts of a conscientious gardener, mulching accomplishes many things. It conserves water by cutting down on evaporation, and it helps keep plant leaves clean when there are heavy rains. This is particularly important in the case of creeping thyme, parsley, oregano, anise, and other herbs that grow close to the ground and are often blown over in heavy storms and pushed into the soil.
Mulching also eliminates weeds and preserves delicate herb feeder roots that would otherwise be destroyed by hoeing or digging. The few weeds that creep through the mulch can be pulled out easily by hand.
Mulching also helps guard against extreme weather by insulating herbal roots from the cold. If the mulch is organic, it gradually decomposes into the earth's top layer, boosting soil fertility by providing helpful microorganisms.
Perennials growing in severe climates benefit from heavier mulching at the end of the growing season, which protects them from extreme cold winter temperatures and keeps their root systems from drying out.
Popular mulches for the herb garden include freshly cut grass, chopped hay or straw, chopped seaweed, cocoa hulls, wood chips, and pine needles. (Grass should be piled on in many thin layers, rather than all at once, to prevent rotting, which attracts insects.) Most gardeners have favorite mulches, depending on personal preference and availability. One caution: If you're mulching heavily for a long period of time, check the pH factor occasionally. Some mulches cause soil acidity-a "no-no" for most herbs. You can adjust for this by adding minerals to deacidify the soil.
Fertilizing herbs
Generally speaking, herbs don't need much fertilizing-they draw their nutrients from the soil they're planted in. Too much fertilizer can cause excess leaf growth, resulting in smaller concentrations of the flavorful essential oils that distinguish herbs.
Commercial herb growers rely on one small dose of fertilizer for seedlings-usually fish emulsion or liquid seaweed. One grower finds that using skim milk instead of water promotes healthy growth in young seedlings.
Most herbs can do without fertilizer if they are mulched with organic matter and if compost is added to the soil periodically. Indoor plants, which don't benefit from these natural fertilizers, thrive with an application of very weak fish emulsion about once every 2 weeks during watering.
Combating pests and diseases
Most herbs are naturally resistant to insects, so much so that they are often companion- planted with vegetables and flowers in order to repel harmful pests. The closer the herb variety is to its original type, the better it withstands insect attacks or disease.
Aphids sometimes attack chamomile and dill, but not excessively. Basil is occasionally stripped of its leaves by Japanese beetles. Generally speaking, though, plant pests tend to shy away from the aromatic herbs.
If pests do become a problem, you should avoid chemical pesticides especially since you will be ingesting the teas made from the leaves, roots, flowers, or seeds.
Insects can be eliminated by hand-picking them off plants. Or you can spray your herbs with an insecticidal soap. Approved for use on food plants by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, for example, insecticidal soap is completely biodegradable, leaves no harmful residues and can be applied up to the day of harvest. It is made from naturally, occurring fats and oils found in the cells of all living things. When sprayed on infested plants, it eradicates from 86 to 100 percent of the most destructive garden pests, but does not harm beneficial insects such as bees and ladybugs. It has a pleasant smell and actually cleans the plants' leaves.
Propagating herbs
Herbs may be propagated in many ways-by seeds, stem cuttings, root cuttings, layering, mound layering, root division, and runners. Different herb varieties are more easily propagated by one method than by another.
Seed propagation
Many herbs, including annual, biennial, and perennial varieties, can be reproduced easily from seeds (sources for seeds and plants are listed at the back of this book). If you have patience and a willingness to work, seeds are by far the most economical way to develop your herbal tea garden. A packet of seeds, usually enough for up to 100 plants, costs little.
As I explained earlier in this chapter, seeds can be planted directly outdoors, or indoors in flats or pots for permanent transplanting to the garden once the danger of frost has passed.
If you're gathering your own seeds from plants you or friends have grown, snip off the seed heads into a paper bag. If the seeds are dry and fine, shake them from their pods and plant them immediately; or store them in a clean, dry place, wait a few days or months, and plant them so they'll emerge at a time you would prefer.
A few herb seeds-sarsaparilla, for example-should be planted immediately upon ripening in order to achieve maximum germination. However, because this plant is much easier to propagate by root cuttings, most gardeners don't bother with seeds. Some herbs are difficult to cultivate from seeds, but self-sow readily. It is easier to transplant the seedlings from these herbs in spring or fall. (There is more detail on individual herbs in chapter 7)
Lavender, lemon thyme, tarragon, and most mints can be grown from seeds but seldom are, because other propagation methods are easier.
Stem cuttings
Rosemary, oregano, winter savory, lemon verbena, hyssop, lavender, the thymes, and scented geraniums are usually propagated by stem cuttings, because seed propagation of these varieties is painstaking and uncertain.
To reproduce by cuttings, cut off 3- to 6-inch plant tips from healthy, well-established plants during the active growing season. Don't take soft or forced growth, weak shoots from the center of the plant, or vigorous growth from thick stems. The ideal cutting stem will snap when bent sharply, rather than bending without breaking.
Cut each stem sharply and cleanly just below a leaf bud, using a razor blade, sharp knife, or shears (scissors pinch the stem end, impeding root formation). Make sure the cut is clean, straight across or on a slight angle. Gardeners disagree as to which method is more effective, but both seem to work. Make your own choice.
Strip leaves off the bottom third or half of each cutting, and dip the stem into a hormone rooting powder to 1/4 inch above the last stripped leaf bud. This step is optional, but the hormone powder hastens root formation. It's available at most garden centers.
Tap off excess powder before you insert the cutting into a hole made in advance in moistened rooting medium. Make sure this hole is wide enough so the hormone powder won't be scraped off when you insert the cutting. Then firm the medium around the cutting to avoid air pockets.
An ideal planting mixture for cuttings is moist sand, or perlite placed in a flat or other container which will provide good drainage. Soil, peat moss, and vermiculite are not usually used in cutting mixtures because without them drainage is better and there is less possibility of fungus. One experienced herb grower swears by a well-packed mixture of 1 part sand and 1 part perlite.
Once you've placed the stems in the cutting mixture, do not allow them to become dry or wilted. Mist the cuttings each morning (never at night) until roots have formed. Some gardeners place a plastic bag over the cutting container to ensure that stems will remain moist. Unless the plastic is removed regularly to admit fresh air, however, there s a danger that molds will form.
Set the cutting container in a place where it will get good indirect light-not direct sunlight. Turn the container regularly so that the cuttings will get equal light on all sides.
Lemon balm and thyme will probably form roots in 4 to 6 weeks, but herbs with woodier stems (rosemary, tarragon, and lavender) may take several months.
You'll know roots have formed when the foliage takes on a brighter green color, or when you tug gently on cuttings and discover they tug back. Wait several weeks before trying the tug test, so as not to disturb cuttings unnecessarily. There probably won't be any new leaf formation just after roots have formed, but the cuttings will nevertheless be ready for transplanting into 3- to 4-inch-diameter pots. When transplanting, try to keep as much of the propagating mix around the roots as you can. Again, keep the transplanted herbs moist and out of direct sunlight until new growth is evident.
Three to 5 weeks after you've transplanted, when the plants are 3 to 4 inches high, pinch off the top center of the young herbs to encourage bushing out.
Your plants should be developing nicely come spring. Hardy sage can actually be put outside a month before the last spring frost date, once you've hardened the plants. But wait until after the last frost date to put out tender plants such as bay and rosemary.
One advantage of growing new plants from cuttings is that you know the resulting plants will be true to the old ones. Cutting is an asexual process, while seeds develop through a sexual process and may not look exactly like the plant you took them from. Another advantage of propagation by cutting is that you can get a tremendous variety of perennial herbs quickly this way if you have friends who are willing to let you snip away in their gardens. However, out of deference to your friends' generosity, take cuttings only from well-established plants, ones with several stems and side shoots, not from one-stemmed plants that have been tenderly nurtured indoors all winter and are still struggling to survive outside.
Root cuttings
Some plants-such as bee balm (bergamot), horehound, catnip, and savory-send up new stems from spreading roots. Cuttings from these can create new plants. Select roots 3/6 to 3/8 inch in diameter from a well-established, vigorously growing plant. Discard the tapering ends of the root, and cut the remainder into 1- to 3-inch lengths, so that each piece includes some of the fleshy root and a bud. Dust the root pieces with hormone rooting powder, and lay them 2 inches apart horizontally in a flat prepared with the same type of soil mixture you used for stem cuttings. Cover them with about 1/2 inch of additional cutting mixture, and water the flat thoroughly. Then cover the container with a piece of glass or newspaper, place it in a shady place, and keep the cuttings moist. Remove the covering when leaves appear. Once growth is established, transplant each cutting into a small pot. If leaf growth is heavy, remove most of it before replanting, allowing only one or two small center leaves to remain. Plant each cutting into its pot so that the leaves are above the soil, and the piece of root is below.
The best time to propagate this way is in the spring, when new growth is under way, though root cuttings may be taken any time from spring to fall if you can keep the newly planted roots shaded and moist.
In cool regions, you can take root cuttings in fall and store the cutting container on a sheltered porch or in a cold frame outdoors. Be sure to keep the container well watered. In spring the cuttings will send up shoots and can be planted in the garden.
Layering
Layering is often easier than making cuttings. Many herbs, such as sage and tarragon, will layer themselves outdoors when a stem falls over, touches the ground, and sends down roots.
You can layer perennials yourself if you want extra plants. Choose a healthy stem or branch near the ground, one that will bend down easily to touch the soil. Look for a leaf node about 1 foot from the stem tip, and make a small slanting cut just below the leaf node, cutting about halfway through the stem or branch. You can also scrape away the outer layer of bark from a short section of stem or branch without cutting into it and dust the cut or stripped section with hormone rooting powder. This "wounding" method is better for thin stems.
Figure out where the cut or stripped section will touch the soil, and dig a shallow depression there. Mix the soil you remove from this hole with equal parts of peat moss, ground bark, or sand, and put some of this mixture in the bottom of the hole. Then bend the cut or stripped branch down into the hole, anchoring it in place with a heavy wire loop or staple. Pieces of coat hanger do nicely, or for thinner stems, large hairpins will do the trick. Be sure the metal pinning goes deep enough into the soil to hold the layered branch firmly.
Mound the depression with the previously prepared soil, and firm it well. Water and then add a mulch of leaves or compost. If you're preparing good-sized branches for layering, you may place a brick or stone on top of the mound so that the treated portion cannot become dislodged.
Roots usually form in about 6 weeks. Check them by carefully removing the soil and tugging on the stem or branch. If roots are well established, you can sever the stem or branch from the parent plant and transplant your new herb.
If you're layering in the spring, use growth from the previous year If you're propagating by layering in midsummer, use new growth rather than the previous year's older wood. Summer growth is usually easier to layer because it's more pliable.
You can continue to propagate by layering until 4 weeks before the first frost. Plants that are processed in late summer or fall should he left in place until the following spring, then severed from their parent-plant and transplanted.
Mound layering
Mound layering is another way to layer bushy perennial herbs, especially if they branch out from a tight root base. In early fall, pile earth up around the plant, burying the center branches completely to a height of 4 or 5 inches. Make sure the branches are kept covered with moist earth.
When you dig up the plant in late spring, you'll find that root have formed all over the buried branches. Cut each leafed branch below the new root formation and-presto-instant new plant!
Root division
Perennial herbs with root systems that spread each year and send up new growth are a constant source of new plants. These roots become complete new herbs when they're divided from the parent plant. Angelica, bee balm (bergamot), catnip, oregano, coltsfoot, thyme, and many other herbs are easy to propagate in this fashion once a parent plant has become established and started to spread. Single stem herbs (dandelion and parsley, for example) cannot be propagated this way.
If an herb is spreading beyond where you want it to go, you can create new plants and thin the old one at the same time. Plant propagators suggest gently digging up the old plant and washing the root ball so you can clearly see the spreading roots. Then pull the plant apart or cut off the younger plant growth that has formed around the outside. Discard the older, woodier central growth. Parts you pull off from around the core can be transplanted into water-filled holes prepared with good soil. Surround the transplants with firmed earth to prevent air pockets. Trim some leaves and stems off the new plants to avoid excessive loss of moisture while they re-establish themselves, and if the roots are long and bushy, trim them to encourage new growth. Once planted, the herbs should be well watered until the plants have recovered.
If you don’t want to disturb the parent plant, but lots of new growth has formed around the core, drive a spade straight down into a portion of the new growth and separate it from the parent plant. Fill the hole you create by removing the spreading root section, tamp it, and water the parent plant well. The section you separate from the parent plant can then be processed just as if you had dug up the parent plant.
Root divisions can be made in the spring, before new growth has become so established that leaf damage caused by handling the plant will affect its appearance during the growing season. Or divisions can be made in the fall; new growth the following spring will ensure a compact, attractive resurgence of undamaged herbal leaves.
Runners
Some herbs (such as strawberries) send out runners from the parent plant. Long stems develop, with leaves and root nodes along the way or at the ends. When the runners eventually touch ground, they send down new roots. While these root systems are being established, runner plants continue to take nourishment from the parent plant. Once the rooted plants are coming along nicely, the stems that "ran" them to their new location will wither away.
If you wish to propagate this type of herb, it's easy to help nature a little. You can direct runners where you want new plants, then anchor them into nicely prepared soil to hasten root development. Leave the running stems attached to the parent plant until new plants are established, then trim them off.
In all forms of propagation, a few basic rules apply. The soil bed for propagated plants should be carefully prepared, and the soil should be kept moist until new plants have established themselves. Of course, all plant parts involved in the propagation process should be handled gently and watched carefully until the new plants are well developed. With practice, you can become highly skilled at all methods of propagation. What may sound complicated becomes second nature once you have repeated it step by step a few times.
======================
3. Planning your garden, outdoors and in
One of the most delightful things about herbal tea gardens is the way they reflect the idiosyncrasies of their owners.
Disorganized gardeners tuck one herb here, another there, yet still manage to enjoy a refreshing cup of herbal tea, when they can remember where they put the plant.
Scientific gardeners carefully plant their herbs next to treasured flowers or vegetables, precisely matching the herbs' insect-repelling capacities with the susceptibilities of other plants, so that each flower or vegetable is protected from its predators.
Fastidious gardeners delight in formal, geometrically correct herb gardens, each plant trimmed to perfection and exactingly placed. A crisis ensues when, to provide tea for unexpected guests, a branch must be trimmed more than planned.
Artistic gardeners arrange plants with aesthetic considerations in mind, whimsically shifting them around each year to create interesting new arrangements.
Besides offering a bountiful harvest, herbs allow you to express yourself. And unlike flowers and vegetables, herbs provide more than just a few short days of pleasure-they provide tea all year long.
Planning the outdoor garden
As you plan your garden, you may want to emphasize color patterns gray-green sage with its purplish flowers placed near the white or yellow blossoms of feathery yellow-green fennel. You may prefer to plant for a balance of aromas-delicate lavender far from pungent basil; rosemary, with its woodsy smell, close to woodruff, which yields up a forest-like odor after it has flowered and dried. Or you may want to emphasize textures-lace-like, serrated leaves of tansy placed close to the smooth, regular leaves of bay. The creative possibilities are countless.
Before you begin planting, however, consider these basic guidelines to reduce the chance of failure and to get more interesting results:
Remember, the most attractive herbal tea garden is not created instantly, but through careful planning for the future, when well established perennial plants will give it a natural and decorative appearance.
When plotting your garden, consult the compendium of herbs and the quick reference chart in this book. They capsulize basic information on each of the seventy herbs popularly used for tea, and will help you with the placement of herbs in your garden. The compendium also provides information on size and spacing of plants; it is important to allow sufficient breathing room for plants to mature and develop properly.
Here are some of the properties of herbal tea plants that you'll want to consider:
HERBAL TEAS THAT GROW IN SHADE OR PARTIAL SHADE:
Agrimony, angelica, cicely, comfrey, dandelion, elder, ginseng, hop, hyssop, Labrador tea, ' lemon balm, mints (not catnip), mugwort, parsley, pennyroyal, sarsaparilla, sassafras, speedwell, tarragon, valerian, wintergreen, woodruff.'
HERBAL TEAS THAT GROW IN MOIST PLACES:
Angelica, bergamot (bee balm), coltsfoot, comfrey, elder, flax, hibiscus, hop, jasmine, Labrador tea, meadowsweet, mints (not catnip), mugwort, parsley, pennyroyal, raspberry, sarsaparilla, speedwell, valerian, Woodruff.
HERBAL TEAS THAT GROW IN DRY PLACES:
Agrimony, blackberry, borage, burnet, chamomile, fennel, goldenrod, lavender, mullein, New Jersey tea, pennyroyal, rosemary, sage, savory (winter variety), speedwell, thyme, yarrow.
HERBAL TEAS FOR HEDGES: Basil, hyssop, lavender, rosemary, sage.
HERBAL TEAS FOR LOW EDGINGS: Basil (dwarf), chamomile, chrysanthemum (dwarf varieties), coltsfoot, parsley, pennyroyal, speedwell, strawberry (wild), thyme, woodruff.
HERBAL TEAS FOR GROUND COVER: Sun: Caraway, chamomile, coltsfoot, thyme; shade or partial shade: Speedwell, wintergreen, woodruff.
HERBAL TEAS FOR ROCK GARDENS OR CREVICES: Chamomile, marjoram, pennyroyal, thyme, woodruff.
TALL HERBAL TEAS: Angelica, bay, birch, elder, fennel, hawthorn, hibiscus, hollyhock, jasmine, juniper, linden, mullein, nettle, rose (large varieties), rosemary, sage, sassafras, tansy.
Herbal teas by color of the flower (these may vary within the variety):
BLUE: Borage, flax, hyssop, speedwell.
GREEN: Nettle, sarsaparilla.
PURPLISH-BLUE: Alfalfa, lavender, lemon verbena, licorice, pennyroyal, rosemary, sage, thyme, valerian, yarrow.
PURPLISH-PINK: Oregano.
REDDISH-BROWN: Chrysanthemum varieties, mugwort.
REDDISH-PINK: Bee balm (bergamot), chrysanthemum varieties, fraxinella, hollyhock, marjoram, red clover.
REDDISH-PURPLE: Betony, burnet, mint.
VIOLET: Savory.
WHITE: Angelica, anise, balm, basil, bay, blackberry, caraway, chamomile, cicely, comfrey, elder, hawthorn, hollyhock, horehound, jasmine, Labrador tea, linden, meadowsweet, New Jersey tea, parsley, raspberry, strawberry, valerian, wintergreen, Woodruff.
YELLOW: Agrimony, chrysanthemum varieties, coltsfoot, dandelion, dill, elder, fennel, fenugreek, ginseng, goldenrod, hibiscus, juniper, lemon verbena, licorice, linden, marigold, meadowsweet, mullein, tansy, yarrow.
YELLOW-GREEN: Hop, parsley, sassafras.
Once you've determined where to put your herb garden and have sketched a planting plan on paper, stake out the planting bed. Then you can prepare the soil (see chapter 2, "Guide to Cultivating Herbs").
If space permits, leave one area of the garden for reserve plants-cuttings or seedlings that are left over after you've transplanted into the garden proper. These can become replacements for herbs that don't take when you transplant or that winterkill. Also, you can gather tea ingredients from the spare herbs when you don't want to trim pampered or strategically placed plants.
If you're planning a geometric garden, mark it for planting after you've prepared the soil and edged the bed. Follow the same method you'd use if you were making geometric drawings on paper. To mark off circular areas, use a home-made compass (a stake driven into the ground, with a string and pointed marker attached to it). For straight lines, you can use a string stretched tight between two stakes, or a board, as a guideline to mark where plants should be placed.
Formal, geometrically arranged gardens gain interest if they are placed so the pattern can be seen from above (from the top of a rise, for example). Plants can also be grouped around a focal point-a sundial, birdbath, statue, or fountain. In a formal garden, the plants that delineate the design line should be small, slow-growing herbs that hold their shape. They must, of course, be trimmed and weeded regularly. Plants with less manageable foliage can be planted within the outlined spaces.
Less structured herb gardens allow for the placement of many herbs within a small area-an ideal solution for the gardener with limited space who wants plenty of variety for one-herb, two-herb, or multi-herb teas.
Protecting your herb garden in winter
If you live in an area where winters are severe, you'll want to provide protection for your perennial herbs.
These plants are usually killed by alternate thawing and freezing, which pushes the herbs out of the ground, causing serious damage to the roots. A permanent mulch can shield delicate roots from such temperature extremes. Weed-free straw, sawdust, cocoa bean hulls, and pine bark are types of mulch you can use. The mulch should be light and porous enough to allow air to penetrate, yet thick enough to shade the soil and provide adequate insulation.
While sawdust and bark make good winter mulch, they sometimes create a nitrogen deficiency in the soil. You can correct this during the growing season by digging a little fish meal or blood meal into the soil around the plants.
One tip: Don't harvest herbal teas just before a frost. Trimming causes herbs to send out new growth, which lowers their resistance and makes them susceptible to winterkill. Try not to harvest less than a month before frost is expected.
Wind can also be a problem. Even herbs that are said to be hardy in your area may be killed if winds become excessive. The wind chill factor lowers the effective temperature far below the temperature you see on your thermometer. A thermometer reading may be 0ºF ( -18ºC), but if there's a 30-mile-an-hour wind, the temperature your plants are experiencing is really - 49ºF (- 46ºC)-lower than most herbs can tolerate.
One precaution you can take is to grow plants in a protected spot on the side of your house that catches the sun. If that's not possible, consider covering the plants completely with a mulch that won't mat them down and suffocate them. You can also create a windscreen of evergreen boughs poked into the soil around the plants, or erect a fence or pile of stones on the windward side of the garden.
Another way to ensure winter survival of perennial herbs is to grow varieties that have been developed to withstand the climate in your area. When you're buying plants, obtain them from a climate as cold as or colder than the one you'll be growing them in.
Some tender perennials (lemon verbena, bay, hibiscus, jasmine, rosemary, and the scented geraniums) must be taken into the house or moved to a warmer location (such as a porch or cold frame) when cold weather threatens. To avoid transplanting shock, grow them in pots year round, so you can bring them indoors easily in the fall. Treat these tropical varieties as house plants (see the section on indoor gardening later in this chapter). Rosemary is an evergreen; it will stay green all winter. But lemon verbena, a deciduous shrub, may drop all its leaves and become dormant during the winter. Don't throw it out because of its dead appearance-keep watering it. In the spring it will send out new leaves.
Scented geraniums need special care. Before the first killing frost, take all the cuttings you need for the following year's plants and place them in a box of clean, sharp, and slightly damp sand (perlite can be added as well). Be sure this planting container is well drained. Label each plant or row of plants, and place the cuttings vertically halfway into the sand (see the discussion of propagation by cuttings in chapter 2). Remove the planting container to the basement or to a sheltered porch, where it will remain cool and dormant until spring, but will not freeze. Then dig up the geraniums you took the cuttings from, shake off excess soil, and place them in brown paper bags. Hang these in the garage or attic. Around March, place these plants in a moist mixture of fertile green loam and peat moss. Keep them in the shade, watering them daily until color returns; then move them into sunlight. When danger of frost is past, you can plant them outdoors once again, along with the new plants that have resulted from your cuttings.
Planting the indoor garden
An indoor gardener will never be able to provide the same growing conditions that exist naturally outdoors. Apartments and houses are usually too warm, dry, and dark, and they don't supply the gentle breezes and evening dews that plants need to protect them against excessive drying and disease. Poor ventilation makes indoor plants susceptible to fungus and to attacks by aphids, mites, and other insect pests.
The challenge is to duplicate outdoor conditions as best you can. It isn't easy, but this doesn't mean you can't grow delightful herbal tea plants indoors. It just means you have to be aware of the problems and learn to overcome them.
Herbs that grow well indoors
Many herbs grow well indoors. They may not reach the fullness or height that they would outdoors (their container-bound roots are somewhat dwarfed), but they can still provide beauty and an abundance of leaves for making herbal teas.
HERBS THAT GROW WELL INDOORS:
Angelica, basil, bay, borage, burnet, catnip, chamomile, dandelion, dill, fennel, horehound, jasmine, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, scented geraniums, tansy, tarragon, thyme, wintergreen, Woodruff.
There are many choices here for the indoor herbal tea gardener who likes variety.
Choosing your window exposure
When planning your indoor garden, choose a spot where the plants will get plenty of sun- ideally a window that gets direct sunlight. If you have a sun room, porch, or garden room, you're all set. If you don't, you may have to use artificial plant lights, giving seedlings and plants from 12 to 16 hours of artificial light each day. (See chapter 2 for more information on starting seeds and providing artificial light.)
Tender perennials should get at least as much light as they would in their native environment, whether they were brought in from the outdoors or are being cultivated inside. Consult a guide to light gardening to determine the type of equipment you should use and the amount of light you should provide in conjunction with the natural light you are working with.
You can grow a garden on a table next to a window, or in a window greenhouse. You can also grow your herbs in hanging baskets, in a terrarium, on trays, or in large window boxes. Herbs grown in pots or tubs can be used as decorative elements, too.
Watering
Give your plants enough water so the soil is moist, but not so much that they're standing in water. Root rot is caused by too much water. If you use plastic pots, you should water less. A good rule of thumb is to water regularly during warm spells, but if the air indoors is cool, wait until the surface of the soil becomes dry. The water should be at room temperature. Some herbs consume more water than others. Learn their habits, and water accordingly. The compendium of herbs later in this book will tell you which herbs like to be moist and which dry.
You should also provide enough humidity. If your home is dry, mist herbs daily, preferably early in the day. If herbs are still very damp when light is no longer available to them, they'll become susceptible to fungus (unless there is plenty of ventilation, which is hard to achieve indoors). Most herbs adapt to the drier humidity of indoor growing better than other plants.
Soil condition
Make sure indoor potting soil is porous and crumbly and provides good drainage. Commercial potting soils designed for indoor use are good; you can also make your own. Some indoor gardeners prefer soil without soil-1 part peat moss and 1 part perlite or vermiculite. Then they add the nutrients needed by individual plants.
Indoor plants prefer a little food given often to a lot all at once. Time-release fertilizers accomplish this, but if your pots are small and you like liquid fertilizers, choose one containing the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that herbs need. Most concentrates provide dosages for once-a-month feedings. If you feed your herbs weekly, use one-quarter the amount recommended on the label. If you feed every other week, use half the amount. Fish emulsion is a favorite fertilizer of organic herb gardeners; another is seaweed extract.
Spotting poor growing conditions
If an herb's leaves wither, check to see that it's getting enough water and light. Most indoor gardeners think insects or disease are causing leaves to wither, turn brown, or develop crisp edges, but this may not be so. Perhaps the plant is getting too much heat, or soil temperatures may be fluctuating too much.
If developing leaves turn yellow, there may not be enough acidity in the soil. Remember, most herbs like a fairly neutral soil-not too acid or alkaline.
If leaves develop brown or silvery streaks, the plant may be getting too much sun. Lifeless- looking leaves may be the result of too little water. Buds dropping off usually indicate rapidly fluctuating temperatures, which is hard to remedy with indoor growing conditions. If an herb isn't blooming when it should, it's probably not getting enough sun.
If stems turn soft, the herb isn't getting enough sun, and it's probably also getting too much water.
Plant insects and diseases
Herbs growing indoors are fairly resistant to disease and insects, just as they are outdoors. But if fungus develops, treat it immediately. Otherwise the spores will spread from one plant to another via whatever insects are on the plant.
Major indoor herb pests include aphids, mealybugs, mites, and white flies. Insecticidal soaps, used to combat outside pests, are also available in indoor formulas, some with fertilizer included in their mixtures. They provide effective insect control and are organic-they contain no substances injurious to people or to pets.
Starting your garden
If you're starting plants from seed, do as you would if you were planning to put them outdoors eventually (see chapter 2), but instead transplant them to larger pots after they've developed nicely.
If you're buying nursery plants, keep them isolated from your other plants for a few days, until you've determined that they're healthy. Then you can let them get acquainted with the other herbs. Be sure to transplant herbal tea plants into larger containers as they develop.
Keep plants trimmed, not only so you can enjoy herbal teas, but also because shaping and trimming encourages them to become bushier, giving a better appearance and producing a better tea crop. Try to trim just above the leaf buds; and trim regularly rather than allowing plants to become too large and "leggy," which requires dramatic trimming. This can cause the plants to die of shock caused by the sudden imbalance between the roots and leaves.
Plan your herb pruning schedule so you can harvest an herbal tea crop when you want one.
Plants can be grouped to make an attractive garden, with a balance of textures, colors, and shapes. If the herbs are in individual containers, you can use them as decorative centerpieces for your table or as welcome fragrances in bedroom or kitchen. If the plants you use decoratively don't get sufficient light, be sure to alternate them so they are not in the shade for more than a few days at a time.
Indoor plants require careful monitoring (they depend on you for almost all their needs), but they are protected from drought, heavy downpours, and other adverse weather conditions. This means that indoor herbs are often more attractive than those grown outdoors. They offer not only beauty and fragrance close at hand, but a bountiful harvest of herbal teas as well.
======================
4. Drying, freezing, arid storing
Our herbs are growing nicely. You've experimented by using fresh herbs to brew teas, but now it's time to prepare the leftovers for use when the growing season is over. How do you harvest, store, and use these herbs?
Gathering leaf teas
Gathering leaves and stems from an herb plant actually contributes to its health. If herbs are left uncut, yellow-ripe or dying leaves will result. Cutting them back promotes new growth, as well as assuring your supply of herbal delights far into the fall.
The best time for gathering leaves is on a dry, sunny morning in spring or early summer, just after the dew has evaporated-and before the sun has become hot enough to draw out the natural oils. If you pick the herbs wet, they may become moldy.
Use scissors or shears when gathering herb leaves, petals, or flowers, rather than picking them with your fingers. This helps assure clean clusters, free of adhering pieces of root. For the tenderest leaves, gather the tips of stalks rather than the full stem. If you harvest from a smaller plant, keep at least two sets of leaves at the base of each stem so the plant will continue growing. By "pruning" this way, you can obtain two or three crops of leaves in a single season.
When cutting leafy herbs-basil, savory, chervil, and marjoram the best time of the growth cycle is just before the blossoms form, when the greatest abundance of natural oils is concentrated in the leaves. These oils will give the fullest flavor and the best leaf color when dried. After blooming, some leaf varieties change color. Savory becomes very dark, for example, and the small leaves look black and shriveled when dried. Of course, you can cut leaves after the herbs have bloomed, but the color, flavor, and texture of the leaves will be less perfect.
Using fresh herbs
If you plan to use fresh herbs, cut off dead and imperfect leaves. Wash the herbs thoroughly in clean cold water, then shake or towel-dry them. Remove stems wherever possible, and pop the leaves into a teapot.
Freezing leaf teas
Delicate-tasting or tender-leaved herbs-such as borage, tarragon, parsley, and basil-tend to lose some flavor in the drying process. For such plants, an excellent alternative method of preservation is freezing. Other herbs that keep especially well when frozen are marjoram, oregano, thyme, rosemary, savory, salad burnet, dill, lemon balm, lemon verbena, and mint. Before freezing, the herbs should be washed and patted dry with towels. Freeze them whole or chopped, without blanching. Plastic bags make good storage containers, because they can be stapled together and squashed into a convenient corner of the freezer. Be sure to mark each bag for later identification.
When you're ready to brew herbal tea, mince the frozen herbs on a chopping board.
Drying leaf teas
Once picked, the faster herbs are processed the better. This will ensure maximum flavor. Green herbs must be kept out of strong light and the sun to prevent the color from fading, no matter whether you plan to use them fresh, dried, or frozen. And this rule extends throughout their storage time.
You should also keep each bunch of herbs separate at all times While you won’t have any trouble telling mint from lemon balm when you're harvesting, after they are dried, one herb looks much like another. The same is true of some seeds.
If you're drying small-leaved herbs-thyme, savory, and tarragon, pick branches instead of leaves and dry them in bundles. Once they are dry it is easy to strip the leaves from the stems by running your fingers gently down either side. Other herbs that dry well in bunches are lemon balm, horehound, marjoram, and oregano. Larger leaves mint, sage, and basil-are better if picked separately from the branches before drying. Be sure each leaf is perfect, without spots or blemishes.
Leaves gathered when the moon is waning tend to dry most rapidly, since they retain less sap in their leaves and stems. Needless to say, you should carefully avoid picking leaves that have been exposed to weed killers, car exhaust (especially if you're gathering wild herbs from the side of the road), or excessive dust.
Once gathered, the leaves should be washed quickly in cool water to remove any trace of dust and insects. Herbs that grow close to the ground-such as marjoram, parsley, and thyme- require careful handling when being washed, because they are likely to have greater deposits of soil on their leaves. Gently towel-dry the leaves after washing.
To dry herbs quickly, spread the leaves or branches on a mesh rack and place the rack in a slow oven, set at 100º to 125º F (38º to 51ºC). (Higher temperatures may unfavorably influence the volatile oils in the plants.) Leave the oven door open and stand nearby, because the leaves will be chip-dry in just a few minutes. For even greater speed you may use a microwave oven, set very low, for 1 minute or less. Timing will vary with the herb and the amount being dried, so experiment with each herb and watch carefully, or you may end up with a pile of ashes. If you prefer to use a dehydrator, check the herbs frequently to determine how long they should remain in the unit.
If you do want to air-dry herbs and have the space, avoid places that could be attacked by insects or rodents. Vermin are especially troublesome in hot climates. In cold climates, mildew is a big danger.
The drying area should be dry, well ventilated, and out of direct light. In damp weather or cold climates, some artificial heat will probably be necessary to supplement the natural drying process. Outdoor sheds can be used in very dry weather, but there is always the danger of moisture seeping in at night, which will retard the drying process. Herbs that dry well hanging in bunches from a rafter or wire include sage, savory, mint, oregano, marjoram, basil, lemon balm, and horehound. Keep bunches of basil small to prevent the leaves from turning black.
The flavor will remain even if they do turn, as long as they do not mold, but the tea will be unattractive. Dill may be dried this way, too, if the green leaves are desired rather than seeds.
You can also hang air-drying herbs inside brown paper bags to keep the dust off. Punch many holes into the bags to let air in and keep moisture out.
Herbs that dry well on trays, or on brown wrapping paper spread on boards, include chervil, lemon verbena, parsley, thyme, and rosemary. Parsley leaves are so thick that they can be spread only one layer deep. Thyme, however, holds so little moisture that an entire basket may be filled, and it will still dry well in any place that is not damp.
In a warm, dry spot, most herbs will air-dry in 2 days, some as quickly as overnight. Certain heavy-leafed herbs, though, may take several weeks to dry thoroughly. Even if herbs feel dry to the touch, make sure they're really free of moisture by checking them frequent after you've stored them.
Gathering and drying seeds
Seeds, the tastiest parts of many herbs, will remain vital for years since they are naturally wrapped in sturdy covers that retain the flavorful oils. To harvest the seeds of herbs such as coriander, caraway, dill, fennel, and anise, the key word is vigilance. Seeds must be gathered when they are barely ripe-as soon as they begin to look brownish-because in a day or two the seeds will begin to drop. Then if you disturb them even slightly, they will fly in all directions, and instead of gathering this fall's harvest, you will have planted next springs garden.
The best time of day to pick seeds is the early morning, after the dew has evaporated but while the air is relatively calm. Snip off entire seed heads with a shears, dropping them into a paper bag as you go; or cut the whole plant, if you can, and place it, seed heads down, in a paper bag. Puncture holes in the sides and top of the bag, but not the bottom. Then hang it in a warm, airy, shady place. Once the plants have dried, the seeds will usually fall to the bottom when you shake the bag.
The seeds of some plants do not ripen simultaneously; in this case you may have to pick several crops of seed heads over a week or more.
Eliminating insects
If you discover tiny insects clinging to the seeds after you've gathered them, simply drop the seed heads into boiling water for an instant. Skim off the dead insects on the surface of the water, then drain the seeds. Spread them in a single layer on tightly woven cloth towels, and put them in an airy, shady place to dry. Some seeds have tight pods or husks and do not release easily. Leave them for 2 weeks, or until you can separate the seeds from the pods or husks by rubbing them between your hands. When the seeds have been loosened, pour the through a sieve or colander to separate them from the chaff.
Gathering and drying roots
Try to gather roots when the moon is waxing, since all roots tenderest at that time. Dig or pull up the plant, shake off excess dirt, cut off the part of the plant which was above the soil line, and wash the roots in cool water. Trim off side roots, which dry quickly and give woody fiber but little flavor. Split the roots in half lengthwise; if they're particularly large, split each piece lengthwise again. That way they'll dry more quickly.
If you are air-drying roots, process them as you would leaves. In cold climates, damp weather, or when you don't have adequate space to air-dry, you will want to oven-dry. Keep the temperature 100º to 125º F (38º to 51º C) so the volatile oils won't be affected unfavorably.
To preserve flavor, keep the roots in larger pieces until you're ready to use them. At that time, grind, powder, or pound them to help release the flavors.
Gathering and drying flowers
Of course, harvesting of flowers must coincide with the flowering of the plant. Pick flowers when they are at their loveliest and most fragrant. If they're past their prime, they won't be as aromatic. Use the same directions for processing and drying flowers as for leaves.
Storing herbs
Once you've processed the leaves, flowers, roots, and seeds, you'll want to store them properly to keep them as long as possible without deterioration. Whole leaves, root pieces, and seeds retain the greatest scent and flavor. If space permits, therefore, store the herbal tea ingredients whole in airtight bottles or metal containers. If that is impossible, break them into smaller pieces, keeping in mind that the smaller the pieces, the more likely it is that aromatic oils may escape.
Herb leaves and flowers must be bone-dry when they are stored. If you processed leaves still attached to the stems, you can trim them off now, storing the leaves and discarding the stems.
Once the leaves are thoroughly dry, they must be stored immediately to preserve the essential oil that determines flavor. Seeds and roots also should be stored as soon as you determine they are thoroughly dry.
The two biggest dangers in storage are excess moisture, which produces mold, and improper sealing of storage containers, which allows vermin to contaminate your harvest. The best containers for storing herbs are jars or bottles of darkened glass fitted with glass stoppers or screw caps. If you can't find dark glass bottles, clear ones will do, but store them in a dark spot.
You may also use cans, although they are more difficult to check.
Some gardeners store herbs in paper bags, but this is the least desirable method. The herbs are not only difficult to check when stored this way, but unexpected dampness can ruin the entire harvest. Bag, are also easily infested by vermin.
Be certain to keep the herbs separate, without any possibility of one mixing with another. Storage containers should be clean, and clearly labeled in indelible ink. Glue-on labels often peel off if the moisture in the air changes, so use self-adhesive labels. If you intend to preserve herbs regularly, date them as well, so you'll know which are the freshest and which may have lost their flavor. Leaf and flower herbs are best if used within 1 year, although they will keep some flavor for as long as 3 years. Seeds and roots keep longer, seeds almost indefinitely.
Jars or cans should be stored in a cool, dry, and dark place. Watch containers carefully for signs of condensation. If moisture appears, empty the containers at once and dry them and the herbs to prevent mold from forming.
Using dried herbs
When you're ready to use herbal leaves, break them without powdering them in order to release the maximum amount of oils. You can do this by rubbing the leaves between your hands-if they have been properly dried, they should crumble easily.
Some herbs, like rosemary, that have sharper leaves may scratch your hands if crumbled, so run them through a coffee grinder instead. They will emerge at just about the right size for use in tea. You call eliminate the residue of herbal odor by wiping the coffee grinder with the remains of a squeezed lemon or with a tissue soaked in a few drops of lemon juice.
Just before brewing root tea, break or grind the roots into small pieces, or powder them.
To prepare seeds, powder or crush them just before using. Ground seeds, like coriander and caraway, deteriorate rapidly when crushed: if they remain whole, however, they keep indefinitely. And if you have leftovers, remember almost all herb seeds will germinate if you plant them the following spring. Extra seeds also make excellent bird food during the winter.
======================
5. How to brew herbal teas
There’s a knack to brewing the perfect cup of herbal tea-tea that tastes like ambrosia instead of last night's dishwater, and has the strength to refresh you without calling to mind a dose of drain cleaner.
Packaged China (Thea sinensis) teas, with clearly spelled-out directions, don’t pose much of a problem. But because herbal teas are brewed from petals, roots, seeds, or flowers, as well as leaves-alone or in combination-they require more know-how. Once you master a few simple methods, though, it's easy to brew a cup of herbal tea with appealing aroma and satisfying taste.
The first thing you need is patience. If you don't allow ample time for brewing, you'll end up with faintly flavored hot water instead of tea. Second, you'll need to make use of your sense of taste. Unlike Thea sinensis teas, herbal teas do not darken as they become stronger, but remain light green or amber. The expert tea-brewer gauges the strength or weakness of herbal tea by taste rather than sight. Third, you'll need the proper brewing utensils. Basically this means a pot (preferably an enameled one with no chips) for boiling water, a teapot, a teacup, an infuser for immersing the tea in the water, a strainer, and a mortar and pestle, or grinder, to crush roots and seeds just before brewing them.
An infuser is a device that holds the tea ingredients, keeping them contained while boiling water is poured over them, so they do not flow into the teacup. Infusers are usually ball- shaped, with pin-sized holes all over their surface, and they unscrew or unhinge to open, enabling you to lock the tea ingredients inside them. Most infusers come in two sizes-one-to- two cup or six-to-eight cup. If you prefer, you can place loose ingredients into the teapot, add boiling water, and pour through a strainer to keep tea ingredients out of each cup.
The best teapots are made of china, earthenware, glass, silver, or stainless steel. Some teapots have strainers built in over the base of the spout, so you can use loose ingredients and the pot will strain the tea as you pour. Avoid tin or aluminum pots-they tend to impart a metallic taste to the tea-and never heat a teapot directly on the stove.
Depending on the type of herbal tea you're brewing, you'll use one of two methods, infusion or decoction.
Brewing by infusion
Most teas made from leaves, petals, and flowers are prepared by infusion. Infusion allows the oils in these parts of the herb to be released gently; if the herbs were boiled, the oils would evaporate.
Infusion of leaves, petals, or flowers:
1 teaspoon of dried herbs, or 3 teaspoons of freshly picked herbs to 1 cup boiling water
To infuse tea, rinse the teapot with boiling water (to heat it) and dry it thoroughly. Place tea in the pot, either loose or in its infuser, pour boiling water over the tea, and allow the mixture to steep for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the delicate flavors are released. Then strain and serve. You may add or subtract herbs according to your personal preference.
If you're using freshly picked herbs, bruise the leaves gently by crushing them in a clean cloth. This will help to release aromatic oils.
Some herbal tea experts say infused herbs should be removed and discarded as soon as the tea is made. Others believe the tea can steep for as long as a day or two.
If the herbs are allowed to sit, use boiling water to warm up the cold tea and/or dilute it if it has become too strong. A word of caution: if herbs are allowed to stand more than a day or two, they release tannic acid into the tea. Tannic acid is great for curing leather, but isn't good for delicate stomach linings. As one expert advises, "If you want your tea to be stronger, use more tea, not more time.”
Brewing by decoction
The decoction method is used mainly for seed and root teas, whose oils are more difficult to release. Herbal teas prepared by decoction generally tend to stay fresher than teas prepared by other methods. Decoction of seeds:
I tablespoon of seeds to 1 pint (2 cups) of boiling water
Bring water to a boil in an enameled pan placed over a high heat. Add the seeds, reduce the temperature, and allow the mixture to simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes. Then quickly strain the tea and serve it.
Seeds should be well crushed to bring out their oils. A mortar and pestle do the job nicely, or you can wrap the seeds in a clean cloth and crush them with a wooden mallet or rolling pin. You can also grind them in the type of small electric grinder used for grinding coffee beans.
Decoction of roots:
1/2 ounce of dried roots to 1 pint (2 cups) of boiling water
Add the powdered, ground, or crushed dried root to boiling water, reduce the temperature, and simmer for as long as it takes to brew the tea to your taste.
Ordinarily, decoction of roots takes about 20 minutes, and less if you've powdered them. A good rule of thumb is that tea will probably be ready when the water has been reduced to 1/z pint (1 cup). Remove the root at this time.
Iced teas
To make iced teas, prepare them as outlined above, then cool them in the refrigerator.
To make a gallon (20 servings), pour 1 quart of boiling water over 2 ounces of dried herbal tea (about 3/4 cup), or over 6 ounces of bruised fresh leaves. Brew 5 or 6 minutes. Stir and strain into 3 quarts of cold tap water. Serve over ice cubes.
Herbal tea concentrate for a crowd
If you want to make leaf, flower, or petal tea for a crowd, you can make a concentrate in advance, then dilute it when you're ready to serve. Here's how:
For 40 to 45 cups, bring 1 1/2 quarts of cold water to a full rolling boil. Remove from heat. Immediately add 1/4 pound of loose, dried herbal tea leaves, petals, or flowers, or 3/4 pound of fresh herbs. Stir well to immerse the leaves, then cover. Let the brew steep for 5 or more minutes. Strain the concentrate into a teapot. When you are ready to serve, boil water and add it to the concentrate in cups, preparing it to taste.
Sun tea
For hundreds of years, American Indians have used the sun as a source of heat to brew herbal beverages without boiling away the natural flavor. The sun's infrared and ultraviolet rays heat the water but keep it below the boiling point. Flavor is released from the herbs, but not from the oils and acids that can give tea an acrid taste if it isn't drunk soon after brewing. This method also saves energy.
Take a large glass bottle, preferably one with a glass cover that enables the sun's rays to reach the contents easily (an old-fashioned canning jar works well). Fill the jar with water, and add tea leaves. Set the jar in the sun for 3 to 6 hours, depending on the intensity of the rays (affected by time of day) and the time of year. Remove tea residue from the water as soon as you bring the jar in from the sun. This method doesn't work for seeds and roots, which require boiling water to release their flavors.
Enhancing tea's taste
Most herbal teas are brewed to be drunk without sugar, honey, or molasses, which mask their delicate flavors. But some herbs are more tart than others, and you may want to add a sweetener. Elderberry leaves or cut fruit sweeten and add a nice flavor. So does a bit of licorice root. Dried orange peels and tangerine rinds can also be used.
Teas can also be sweetened or flavored with other teas. After you've been experimenting with herbal blends for a while (see chapter 6, "Creating Tea Blends"), you'll find you can create and brew your favorite herbal teas quickly and easily.
======================
6. Creating tea blends
Here comes the fun part-when you can combine two, or three, or many herbs to create teas that will delight your taste buds. Single-herb teas can be lovely, but you will be delighted with the results if you experiment by combining a few leaves of one herb and a few of another, just as people have been doing since the beginning of time.
You may not be ambitious enough to blend twenty-five or thirty herbs and spices as commercial herbal tea packagers often do. They are trying to create tastes that will appeal to the widest segment of the market, and they do an admirable job. These prepared teas, however, often contain exotic tropical herbs or spices that can’t be grown in your garden.
But with what you can grow you can create some pretty special beverages. And they will have the distinction of being your creations, brewed from plants you've grown and processed yourself.
The Chippewa Indians are said to have invented the first tea bag. They would tie some herbal leaves into a little packet, using a long strip of bark to hold everything together, and then dunk it into boiling water until they had brewed palatable tea.
Today, if you'd like to mix elaborate blends and store them in bags for convenient use, you can buy empty bags that are sealed with a hot iron after you've doled out 1 teaspoon of your magic mixtures for each cup of tea.
You can also buy or make little cloth bags with drawstrings to store measured portions of your special blends. This guarantees consistency in the herbal brews, because the blends don't settle as they would in a canister.
Two-herb blends
In January 1774, a month after the Boston Tea Party, one "Philo Aletheias" wrote in the Virginia Gazette, "If we must through Custom have some warm Tea once or twice a day, why may we not exchange this slow poison which not only destroys our Constitutions but endangers our Liberties and drains our Country of so many thousands of Pounds a Year for Teas of our own American Plants, many of which may be found pleasant to the taste, and very salutary " He then recommended seventeen different herbal teas, including these two-
herb blends:
Sweet marjoram and a little mint; mother of thyme and a little hyssop; rosemary and lavender; clover with a little chamomile; sage and lemon balm leaves ("joined with a little lemon juice"); goldenrod and betony (with honey)
These were all good herbal teas for the Colonists, and are good today. (They also drank China tea taste-alikes-Labrador tea, bee balm, and New Jersey tea-which were preferred by less adventurous tea-drinkers who wanted to stick with familiar tasting beverages.)
All two-herb blends should be mixed according to personal preference, using equal parts of each herb, or more of one you like better. The blends outlined here should be brewed by infusion (1 teaspoon of dried herb, or 3 of fresh herb to I cup of boiling water) unless the ingredients used are entirely seeds or roots. If this is the case, brew by decoction (1 tablespoon of crushed or ground seeds or root, placed in 2 cups of boiling water and simmered until the water has been reduced to 1 cup).
Other two-herb blends which have stood the test of time include:
Agrimony with licorice; alfalfa seed with mint; alfalfa leaf with lemon verbena; alfalfa leaf with red clover blossoms; angelica root with juniper berries; coltsfoot with horehound; chamomile with hibiscus flowers; dill seed with chamomile flowers; elderflowers with peppermint; elderflowers with yarrow; fenugreek with alfalfa; fenugreek with mint hibiscus flowers with rose hips; licorice root with any other herb; marigold petals with mint; mullein with sage; mullein with marjoram; mullein with chamomile; pennyroyal with any of the other mints; peppermint with spearmint; rosemary with hibiscus flowers; strawberry leaves with woodruff, sage with lemon verbena; yarrow with peppermint
If you'd like to experiment with these blends but don't have all the ingredients, you might consider buying loose dried herbs and testing them before you decide whether to include them in your garden. Or buy those that won't grow in your area and combine them with those you can grow.
Three-herb blends
It was only a matter of time before more adventurous tea-brewers began blending three herbs. Successes included this blend, said to be an effective remedy for hangovers and nightmares:
3 parts thyme; I part rosemary; I part spearmint
Another good tea, which combines fruity and woodsy tastes, is this: I part strawberry leaves;
I part blackberry leaves; I part woodruff
For an attractive pink tea with a lemon-spice aroma and taste, try
: I part hibiscus petals; I part rose hips; I part lemon verbena
Add a touch of cinnamon to give a spicy accent.
Toby Chamberlain of California, a distributor of little vellum tea bags for herbal enthusiasts who grow and package their own teas, recommends this blend:
I part dried alfalfa leaves; I part dried peppermint leaves; 1/2 part crushed caraway seeds
Multi-herb blends
Gradually your taste will begin to develop so you can judge how herbs will work together. Soon you'll know which ones enhance or complement each other, and which impart sweetness or extra tang.
Here's a good seed blend. The anise and fennel give it a licorice taste, while the coriander and caraway add an extra tang-refreshing, with a pleasant aftertaste. (I have one of those small coffee grinders that grind enough beans for a single serving. It works perfectly on herbs that need pulverizing to bring out their essential oils.)
For this one, I measure 1/z teaspoon of each ingredient into the grinder, powder the seeds, and then infuse the resulting mixture:
I part fennel seeds; I part anise seeds; I part coriander seeds; I part caraway seeds
Measure 1 teaspoon of the seed mixture, infuse in 2 cups of boiling water, cover, and let cool. This one comes close to tasting like China tea, because of the bee balm and birch:
I part ground birch leaves and twigs; I part peppermint; I part savory; I part bee balm (bergamot)
Infuse 1 teaspoon of the mixture in 1 cup of boiling water. For a minty and sweet multi-herb blend combine these:
I part catnip; I part chamomile; I part marjoram; I part spearmint
Infuse I teaspoon of dried herb mixture in 1 covered cup of boiling water for 10 minutes. Sweeten with honey if desired.
This aromatic blend has a woodsy, bittersweet scent and taste that makes a refreshing iced tea as well:
I part sage; I part rosemary; I part hyssop; I part peppermint; I part marjoram; 2 parts thyme
Infuse in boiling water, let stand a few minutes, then enjoy.
Experimentation resulted in this tasty combination, a tangy brew similar to China tea: I part rose hips; I part hibiscus; I part alfalfa leaf; I part blackberry leaves
I grind the rose hips and hibiscus, then add the other ingredients, and infuse I teaspoon of blend for each cup of boiling water.
A multi-herb blend with a citrus-like taste, this tea is especially refreshing when you add a touch of dried orange peel:
I part chamomile; I part rose petals; I part spearmint; 2 parts lemon verbena Infuse, using 1 teaspoon of the mixture to each cup of boiling water.
A touch of orange peel and cinnamon enhance the flavors of this tea:
I part hibiscus flowers; I part rose hips; I part lemon verbena; I part peppermint Infuse to taste.
When combining fresh and dried ingredients, I use this rule of thumb for bulk: 1 part dried equals 3 parts fresh. With this tea, for example, I use 1 teaspoon dried hibiscus, and 1 teaspoon dried rose hips (both of which I grind to help release the tastes quickly). Then I add about 3 teaspoons of fresh lemon verbena from my garden. and 3 teaspoons of fresh peppermint. Since this adds up to 4 teaspoons of dried ingredients, I infuse the mix in 4 cups of boiling water.
Here's another blend that is found in old-time herbals:
I part meadowsweet; I part betony; I part raspberry leaves; I part agrimony Infuse. Sweeten this one with honey or sugar.
To experience an old-fashioned root beer taste, try this combination:
I part sassafras bark; I part licorice root; I part sarsaparilla root; 1/2 part wintergreen leaves Grind the bark and roots. Add the wintergreen, and steep for 10 minutes in boiling water.
Sweeten with honey or sugar.
My favorite creation is this apple tea, which provides a medley of tastes:
I tsp. ground dried rose hips; I tsp. ground dried hibiscus flowers; I tsp. dried chamomile flowers; 4 large fresh apple geranium leaves
While the mixture is steeping in 4 cups of hot water, I add a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of cinnamon. The apple geranium gives a slightly tart taste, so I also add honey to sweeten.
I try all kinds of herbal combinations, making one teacupful at a time, then refining, sweetening, adding an ingredient here, or subtracting one there, until the brew seems just right. I write down the proportions of each ingredient.
You can do this, too. Soon you'll have many favorite herbal tea recipes, with at least one for each friend or family member.
Herbal teas with spices, fruit, and liquors
Herbal teas go well with many spices, fruits, and liquors, and have been served this way over the centuries. Here are a few old-time recipes:
Cloves and rose hips give a slightly bitter taste to this blend:
I tsp. rose hips; 3 cloves; 3 tsp. dried lemon balm
Infuse in 2 cups of boiling water, and steep for 10 minutes. Sweeten with honey or, for a tangier tea, add lemon juice.
Simple, sweet, and lemony, this blend is very soothing:
2 tsp. dried lemon balm; 2 cloves; I tsp. honey Infuse in 2 cups of boiling water for 10 minutes.
A combination which has a lavender aroma and minty taste when you're drinking it, but an aftertaste reminiscent of a China tea:
I tsp. rosemary; I tsp. lavender; I tsp. lemon balm; I tsp. spearmint; I tsp., cloves
Mix the ingredients, and infuse 1 teaspoon of the blend for each cup of boiling water. Mace gives the usually soothing valerian tea a sharper, almost peppery taste:
I tsp. valerian root; I pinch of mace Infuse to taste in 1 cup of boiling water.
A combination that's good when flavored with orange peel is this blend: I tsp. wood betony; I tsp. dandelion leaves; I clove
Infuse in 2 cups of boiling water.
Herbal tea ingredients spice up alcoholic drinks as well. Over the centuries many herbs have been added to wine-woodruff, for example, gives May wine its distinctive taste. By experimenting, you can create strawberry and blackberry flavored wines, as well as others. Crushed hawthorn berries are good addition in wine or brandy.
Here's a cooling tea and liquor combination: Brew hibiscus tea until it is rich red. Then add ice until the mixture becomes light red. When thoroughly cooled, add a jigger of anisette to each glass.
An angelica liqueur can be made by chopping up and steeping 2 ounces of freshly gathered angelica stems and leaves in 2 pints of good brandy for 5 days. Then add 1 tablespoon of skinned bitter almonds ground to a pulp, stir, and strain the liquid. Add I pint of syrup made by boiling 2 cups of sugar in I cup of water for 5 minutes. Filter and bottle.
Tarragon liqueur can be made by steeping 4 teaspoonfuls of fresh tarragon leaves in I pint of brandy for 5 days. Then make a syrup of -3/a cup of sugar boiled in just enough water to dissolve it, and add to the blend. Before bottling this mixture, add I ounce of orange flower water.
Purists may argue some of these combinations aren't truly teas, because the herbal ingredients are not infused in hot water. However, dictionary definitions of infusion and tea often mention herbs being steeped "in liquids." While the semanticists argue, you can try them out. These recipes are slightly more ambitious, and their success depends on long periods of steeping.
Dandelion tea becomes a tasty wine with this recipe:
16 cups of dandelion flower heads; I gallon water; 2 oranges; I lemon; I oz. ginger root; 4 pounds sugar; '/z oz. yeast; I egg white (optional)
Use only fresh dandelion blossoms from which you have removed all stems otherwise the wine will be bitter. Slice the oranges and lemon. Place dandelion heads, water, oranges, lemon, and ginger (crushed and tied in a muslin bag) in a pan, and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes. Strain and add the sugar. If the mixture isn't clear, add the white of an egg. Place the yeast into the mixture, and let set for a week. Then strain and bottle, capping the bottles loosely for a few days, then more tightly. Let this blend stand for 6 months before using.
If you start elderflower wine today, you can enjoy it 6 months from now:
4 cups fresh elderflower blossoms; 3 gals. water; 9 lbs. sugar; 2 tsp. lemon juice; I yeast cake; 3 lbs. raisins
Boil the water and sugar together, then pour over the blossoms. Allow to cool, then add lemon juice and yeast. Put the mixture into a crock, and let it stand 9 days. Strain through cheesecloth, and add the raisins. Put the mix back into the crock, and allow it to stand for 6 months. Then strain and bottle.
Herbs with China tea
You can experiment with all herbs in combination with the China teas. Here are a few favorites: I bag of China tea; 3 cloves; 2 rose geranium leaves Steep in 1 cup of boiling water.
Honey and mint give a sweet, cool taste to this combination:
I tsp. green tea; 3 tsp. fresh mint (or I tsp. dried mint); I tsp. Honey
Infuse in 2 cups of boiling water.
Raspberry leaves give a tart, fruity taste to this combination, so you may want to sweeten it with honey or sugar: I tsp. China tea; I tsp. dried raspberry leaves Infuse in 2 cups of boiling water.
Bee balm makes this blend aromatic and tasty:
1 part China tea; 1 part bee balm (bergamot)
Infuse 1 teaspoon of mixture to each cup of boiling water.
A warm, sweet, and slightly lemony taste characterizes this tea:
1 part China tea; 1 part hibiscus flowers
Infuse. This blend is particularly good when iced.
Coffee substitute
For those who want the taste of coffee but no caffeine, here's an old-time substitute, used when imported coffee beans were not available:
1 tsp. ground roasted dandelion root; 1/2 tsp. Chicory
Infuse in 1 cup of boiling water. This combination tastes a lot like coffee and is good either black or with cream and sugar.
Herbal punches
Here are two favorite punches made from herbal teas:
Lemon Balm Punch: