All About That Tea

The GoodEarth is a 2-acre property that I share with my hubby. We grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers and plenty of support plants. What we ingest is a priority which also inlcudes what we drink. People ask me what makes a good cup of tea, how do you make a great cup of tea and what are the medicinal benefits? This would take several articles to cover so I will focus on sharing my experience of what I successfully grow at the GoodEarth to create healthy and refreshing teas.

My hubby and I are avid tea drinkers. Celestial Seasoning, Bigelow, the Republic of Tea, Twinings, etc… We decided in 2018, we would add plants on our property to harvest, dry or make fresh tea so we never have to purchase teas again. Our reason for this is because of the health benefits of drinking freshly picked ingredients.

In our garden patches around the property, you will find Peppermint, Chinese Mint, Ginger, Turmeric, Tulsi, Roselle, Elderflowers, Elderberries, Moringa, Lemongrass, Yaupon, Lavender, Lemons for the juice and we dehydrate the Lemon Peels, Rosemary, Sweet Aztec, Jasmine Flowers and Sage. Some you are familiar with while others can be found in your grocery stores.

All of these can be harvested daily for a fresh cup of tea or dehydrated and stored in mason jars to enjoy throughout the year. Once harvested, your loose tea ingredients can be added to a tea steeper or infuser to enjoy a cup at a time. We also like to add ingredients in a large glass container with water and place it outside in the sun. The heat of the sun makes tea extraction faster, giving you ready-to-drink tea within a couple hours without the need to heat up water indoors while maintaining most of the medicinal benefits.

Here is our favorite tea combination that all our family loves from the great grandchildren to the boomers.

Red Ginger Tea

Blend in a blender:

1 cup dried or fresh Hibiscus (roselle)

1 – 2 tablespoons shredded fresh Ginger

Juice from 2 Lemons or Limes

½ cup of Peppermint Leaves (fresh or dried)

8 cups of Water

Pour through a fine strainer or cloth filter. Blend the liquid with a sweetner. I like to add apple juice, agave or honey. This makes a RERESHNG glass of tea poured over ice.

Start planting today and enjoy a nice cup of tea from your garden tomorrow.