the world of tea herbs | fund the Austin Garden | herbs > liqueurs

Help keep the Austin Garden afloat! Twice a month we bring you stories that expand your knowledge of gardening, and (hopefully) inspire you to try something new in the garden or kitchen. We rely entirely on donations and sponsorships. Please consider making a donation today. Thank you! PayPal ❦

___________________________________________________

Nursery news: on sale at Barton Springs Nursery this weekend: 1 gal. purple datura, lindheimer (big) muhly: $5. Roughleaf dogwood 15 gal. (fantastic form, but slightly root-bound) $80 (40% off). Soil innoculent Mycostem: $16 (reg. $28). At The Natural Gardener: 20% off all shrubs and wild-life accessories (bird feeders, baths, houses, seed) this weekend. Free composting class Saturday at 10 a.m. TNG ❦

How to transform fruits & herbs into liqueurs: take a couple of pints of strawberries, mix them with simple syrup and 3 cups of vodka, and leave for a week, and voilà - you have created your own strawberry liqueur. Lots of fun ideas from Andrew Schloss, author of Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits. Interviewed on The Splendid Table ❦

___________________________________________________

From garden to runway: in this fascinating video portrait, we follow Belgium fashion designer Dries Van Noten in a journey from a garden photo session to the presentation of his floral prints collection on the fashion runway. T Magazine ❦

___________________________________________________

The Austin Garden is sponsored by Hays Free Press

Central Texas Gardener: on tour, a visit to Tanglewild Gar-den - a design, botanical, and daylily hybridizing adven-ture. In the studio, Flint Fancy (Lone Star Nursery) chats with Tom about using a garden as a healing, medicine chest. Saturday 4 p.m. Sunday 9 a.m. KLRU ❦

The World of Tea Herbs

by Donna Ellis

My garden is my happy place. Sound familiar? Never met a plant I didn’t find beautiful. Use is a matter of imagination.

My dooryard potager (kitchen garden) has 37 plants, and some are part of my tea habit. Tea-making uses fresh or dried plants, individually or in mixtures. Clip them fresh, wash, and then use immediately.

If nothing else, I can flavor my drinking water with single leaf of sage, rolled to release the oils. I’ve used rosemary, mint, lemon verbena and lemon balm this way.

Hot sage tea is my restorative. When pollen or mold are high, I use 2-3 fresh leaves torn or rolled, steeped 5 minutes to chase the irritation.

Oregano and thyme have also worked. I don’t mind pungent, and have tried rosemary and winter savory on their own as a steeped cup.

Dried leaves can replace half or all the black tea in a brew. Successful mixtures in my kitchen have included leaf of Mexican lime, rose petals, fern leaf lavender, hyssop, German chamomile, anise hyssop, and tarragon. My advice is go easy with the mint. Less is more.

To boil water, I prefer an electric kettle but any pot will do. Boil, let the bubbles subside, and pour over the experimental concoction.

For a tisane (herbal tea), I use 1/2 cup fresh plants to 16 ounces boiled water. Steep for three minutes. Dried plants also steep for three, but use 1/4 cup plant to 16 oz. water.

The writer in her kitchen this spring.

Garden tea making is a gateway to things like bolted cilantro in scrambled eggs, and Sambuc jasmine blossoms in orange juice.

If you become a free-range picker, there are cautions: even in your own garden, ID plants with certainty; avoid plants whose compounds are unknown to you; avoid things like blossoms of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family.
This is how I keep my nose-mind connection to the garden. I take my happy place to-go, as a companion in mundane duties.

Do you grow tea herbs, neighbors? I’d love to add to my wish list. Happy gardening everyone.❦
______________________________________________
Donna Ellis is a local non-fiction writer and community facilitator. She frequently speaks on astrology, and her 45 year acquaintance with herbs.