Tea 'n' Tea

18 years ago

Here's a photo of the inside of a plastic bag with some frozen "stuff." Yay!

The "stuff" is lemon verbena. DW didn't appreciate me hanging herbs from the handles of the cupboard doors this Summer. So, she pulled the still wet sprigs of lemon verbena out of their rinse water and pushed them in a plastic bag. The bag went in the freezer. It works great - maybe even better than drying!

Before she short-stopped my herb drying I got a nice bag of dry anise hyssop. That has become my favorite herb to grow for tea altho' it benefits a little from a little something else added. Lemon verbena is a good addition but "stands alone" better than just about any herb.

I can't believe that I have no catnip this year. DW decided that the plant I was saving beside the house was a "weed" and pulled it. Meanwhile, I kept hitting the catnip plants growing beside the garden with either the mower or the weed-whacker. Catnip does not appreciate this sort of thing and it would not grow a decent crop. Oh, I suppose that I could have gotten down on all 4's and harvested a teacup full with the scissors. But, it shouldn't be considered that valuable.

Gives me an excuse to buy more Licorice Spice & Sleepytime at the store - Hey, what's the deal with putting Valerian in Sleepytime?? What are they trying to do, knock me out?

digitS'

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Comments (3)

highalttransplant
18 years ago
I tried to find lemon verbena at several local places in the spring and no one had it. Finally, at the end of the summer, this one nursery had gotten a whole shipment of annual herbs, including the verbena, so I bought one. It did fine out on the porch, and I brought it inside once the nighttime temps dropped into the 20's. It responded by dropping its leaves ... all of them. Someone on the herb forum said that it was not unusual for it to do that, and that it should grow new ones after it adjusts. I hope that it does, since I really like the way it smells. Didn't try making any tea with it yet, but if it survives I'll have to give it a try.

Speaking of tea, I made a Spiced Cider Tea this week, which made the whole house smell like Christmas. I made a spice bag using cheesecloth and filled it with orange and lemon peel, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves, and boiled it for a little while. Then, I took it off the heat, added tea bags and let it steep. I used a combination of apple cinnamon herbal tea, and regular tea like you use for iced tea, but you could use just about any kind. Once I removed the tea bags, I added the juice from the oranges and lemon, and added maybe a quart of apple cider, and let it warm up to desired temp. So good on a cold day!

Bonnie (whose making the transition from spending time in the garden, to spending more time in the kitchen. I'll be there till New Year's, LOL!)
Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
18 years ago
CheckinÂ out your bag fulla leaves and wonderinÂ if maybe you werenÂt shoppinÂ in "that" salvia department when you filled up your bag, Digit! Sure would make for some interesting "tea!" You know you can hang several bundles of "stuff" from a wire coat hangar and stick it in a closetÂif thereÂs room, or somewhere else OUT OF THE WAY till it dries! It wouldnÂt last long on my cupboard doors either!

Bonnie, be sure youÂre leaving your verbena dry out almost the whole way before you water it. It wonÂt be using much water at all until it starts to grow leaves again. You might want to pinch the tips off of the stems tooÂmight help encourage new growth.

Skybird
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digit
Original Author
18 years ago
Ohhh Bonnie, I do believe that Spiced Cider Tea would smell good! Let's bring this recipe back again in about a month!

I think the lemon verbena plants have just a little more trouble getting thru the Winter on the greenhouse floor than does the Rosemary. Looks tuff for both of them but they've made it thru the last 2 years & we'll try for 3.

It could be one of the reasons I like the anise hyssop. I think you could easily have that for a hundred years once you've got a plant or 2 started in the garden . . . . no worries . . .

The wild bergamot tried to come back, too. I pulled it out. Maybe I shouldn't have done that before I'd tasted the tea made from the flowers - it never flowered in 'o7. But, the leaves were just really "medicinal" in an unpleasant way. I don't think I'd like trying rosemary, thyme or sage tea either & they're always at hand. That salvia will have to wait.

You know what? I've still got basil in that greenhouse. I learned today that there's ice that hangs around in the shady spots in my yard thru the day but on the floor of that unheated greenhouse, the basil is still alive!

d'S'