Chamomile tea

[jambunny]

I have a gazillion chamomile plants and am not sure how to dry or what to dry for tea. Any ideas?

 

[big brown horse]

My mother used to dry herbs in her car. (It was TX tho.) She hung a dowell between the back two windows and then rolled up the windows to hold it in place. Then she hung them upside down from the dowell with string. Yep thats how we drove around too...it was soo embarrasing!!

I remember she also used the dash for even more drying.

Freemotion dries things in her car too.

As far as making tea, you can get reusable tea bags at Whole Foods etc. I would start with a teaspoon in a bag and adjust from there. I have a tea "container" don't know what it is called, but it is metal mesh and it opens and closes. It even has a chain and a hook to hook it to your cup. I'm sure you have seen those.

I'm not a HUGE tea drinker, but I'll bet cha you can mix and match different herbs say if you had like, mint or something.

Good luck!!

 

[jambunny]

I have the tea diffuser. I like the idea of drying in the car. In the summer in Wyo that might work but that would definantly get me the hillbilly nickname at work, I get it a lot now. But do you dry the whole plant or just part?

 

[keljonma]

I just dry the flowers and then put them in canning jars whole to keep the oils intact. Crush them before use to release the oils.

 

[freemotion]

I don't do the pole thing, I put the things to be dried in crates with a bit of tulle on the bottom....things shrink as they dry, so you need a fine mesh for a lot of things. Some people use old window screens, well-scrubbed. You can just lay them on the back seat, and leave a couple of windows open a crack to let the moisure out and the air circulate a bit.

Then the neighbors won't talk so much! Just don't do onions and garlic in the car!!!

 

[jambunny]

Thanks guys. I will go pick today and start happy drying.

 

[sylvie]

I use my dehydrator and it is better than running a room diffuser, scented candle or incense. When I walk in the house it is full of chamomile scent or whatever herb I'm drying. Just the wonderful scent in the house makes it worth using the dehydrator. Sort of multi-tasking.

 

[big brown horse]

I don't do the pole thing, I put the things to be dried in crates with a bit of tulle on the bottom....things shrink as they dry, so you need a fine mesh for a lot of things. Some people use old window screens, well-scrubbed. You can just lay them on the back seat, and leave a couple of windows open a crack to let the moisure out and the air circulate a bit.

Then the neighbors won't talk so much! Just don't do onions and garlic in the car!!!

I went to goodwill last week and bought this giant flat square basket with a lip of about 1 inch high. It is probably about 1 1/2 foot square. Pretty wide. It is going to get scrubbed and used as my car dehydrator thanks to freemotion's input.

(My mom always dried her herbs and dried flowers for arrangements hanging down. I think it was the thing to do back in the 80's, they always recommend to hang stuff upside down. The whole barn, used as an antique shop and had a floor, was "rafter full" of dried flowers etc.)

 

[freemotion]

For dried flower arrangements, hung upside down is best, because the stems will dry straight rather droopy.

Line that basket with a piece of tulle, BBH, so as not to lose the little bits of herbs into the basket, where they will lurk and come out to surprise you in some other, delicately flavored herb! You can get a yard for $3 not on sale, and a half yard will do ya!

 

[big brown horse]

Good tip freemotion! I have tulle from another project!