Make your own tea!

[Hinotori]

I know this is an older thread but you should go to your mothers in the spring and make cuttings of the rose that makes the best hips. I've rooted cuttings from roses a few times and some of the best "hip" roses actually will sprout wildly from the base or will root where it leans and hits the ground so you could layer some along the soil and cut them next year too. I have one bush that is out back and about every year before I can harvest the deer come along and feast.. another neighbor told me that he saw turkeys clean it off one year too. but that was late winter and I hadn't harvested.
I have hops that I sometimes dry for tea.. very sedative. and ol' dr. oz is touting California poppy tincture or even tea for sedative properties and even possible pain relief but not like opium poppies.
I dried some of my red raspberry leaves and the wild black raspberry leaves for tea too..
I've put all kinds of stuff in my herb tea blends and even used real black tea as a base to add other things too.
I'm kinda tickled as I went to the lake were my grandparents had a home for many many many years and got to harvest a bit of the wild mint that still grows on the shore line there. it is a nice peppermint.. so hopefully it will take to my back yard like the spearment has..

Grandma's property was sold off after she died. That's where I got the tasty rose hips. They were wild roses up by her spring. My aunt tried to transplant small roses and start cuttings off them when I was in high school but never had any luck.

Grandma had peppermint that came in a commercial arrangement of flowers that she planted outside. It's strong stuff. Mom had gotten starts of it from her and has it in her garden and in some pots. Couple years ago she had a friend who raises peppermint commercially for oil give her a start. Mom has that one in a separate pot on the other side of the yard, but you can't tell any difference between them. She'd had peppermint and spearmint from my great grandfather when I was growing up. That peppermint was never this strong. It took three tries to get the peppermint to take here, but last year I did cuttings and just stuck them in the ground. Those struggled but did manage to make it through the rainy winter here and this spring took off. It's really spreading by the back door. I actually have been able to have tea anytime I want and dry enough to last a good while.

It's high desert where my family lives and almost temperate rainforest here (that is just a short bit to the west of us in the Olympic Mts. We're sitting at the base of Rainier in the Cascades) . So some of the plants just get shocked when I try and plant them here. I've tried the yellow raspberries from Mom, but none of them make it through the wet.

 

[~gd]

The California poppy contains some sedative alkaloids, but not any opium. It's very safe, even for children. Not only is it good for nervous tension and insomnia, but it has been used effectively for memory and concentration in the elderly, as well as ADD and ADHD in children. I've also read that the dried and powdered leaves are good against head lice.
I stand corrected on the California Poppy! It is a new world plant that I was confusing with the poppys that were introduced here for their good looks and for poppy seed production. Botany is not one of my strengths and I know little about herbs except for cooking. [it sounds like something I should look into because I suffer with insomia and I am elderly and my concentration and memory are slipping] I used to get really good tea balls {double sized} frpm Lee Valley but it appears they have replaced them with brew baskets http://www.leevalley.com/US/Garden/page.aspx?cat=2,42194&p=66522 but they still offer the old single sized tea balls
http://www.leevalley.com/US/Garden/page.aspx?p=46797&cat=2,40733,40734&ap=3
~gd

I tried drying some rosehips from our wild roses this year, but I didn't think of cutting them open and scraping out the seeds. I hope that won't be a problem?Shouldn't be my grandma used to give us a few as treats in the winter, they tasted like apples!

I just finished drying what I think will be my final cutting of Stinging Nettle this year. My husband has problems with gout and joint pain, and finds a cup of nettle tea twice a day very effective in relieving some of the pain. Sometimes I will add some chamomile or mint to it, just for the flavor, and I was thinking the rosehips would be a nice change too.

 

[Emerald]

The California poppy contains some sedative alkaloids, but not any opium. It's very safe, even for children. Not only is it good for nervous tension and insomnia, but it has been used effectively for memory and concentration in the elderly, as well as ADD and ADHD in children. I've also read that the dried and powdered leaves are good against head lice.
I stand corrected on the California Poppy! It is a new world plant that I was confusing with the poppys that were introduced here for their good looks and for poppy seed production. Botany is not one of my strengths and I know little about herbs except for cooking. [it sounds like something I should look into because I suffer with insomia and I am elderly and my concentration and memory are slipping] I used to get really good tea balls {double sized} frpm Lee Valley but it appears they have replaced them with brew baskets http://www.leevalley.com/US/Garden/page.aspx?cat=2,42194&p=66522 but they still offer the old single sized tea balls
http://www.leevalley.com/US/Garden/page.aspx?p=46797&cat=2,40733,40734&ap=3
~gd

I tried drying some rosehips from our wild roses this year, but I didn't think of cutting them open and scraping out the seeds. I hope that won't be a problem?Shouldn't be my grandma used to give us a few as treats in the winter, they tasted like apples!

I just finished drying what I think will be my final cutting of Stinging Nettle this year. My husband has problems with gout and joint pain, and finds a cup of nettle tea twice a day very effective in relieving some of the pain. Sometimes I will add some chamomile or mint to it, just for the flavor, and I was thinking the rosehips would be a nice change too.

A good friend of mine had California poppy going bonkers in his yard and let me harvest some of the big seed pods and a bit of the root and foliage and I have it steeping in some everclear-one word of warning.. I just did a dip my finger in and taste test(it is only two weeks in) and I have to say.. everclear burns haha but there is a very bitter flavor.. best to do the few drops of this poppy tincture and then down something that tastes yummy.. me I kinda like bitter flavors like Tonic! if Chinchona bark wasn't so darned expensive I'd try to make my own tonic syrup too.. I'm thinking since I do like bitter I am going to try the bitter melon in the garden next year.
I am only amateur herbalist(and only the safe stuff too.. don't like to go out too far on that limb) .. Another great herb for insomnia is Valerian.. I grow it but it is another nasty smelling and tasting herb.. smells a lot like stinky feet.. and when it blooms it does have a mild sweet vanilla smell but the stink foot smell kinda just invades it. and it tastes a bit like it smells.

 

[Britesea]

I use Valerian a lot, but I've never had success getting seeds to sprout and grow for me. *sigh* Supposedly the root is more effective as a tincture than dried. I buy the tincture and squirt a dropper full into a glass of water when I need help sleeping or if I'm feeling anxious or tense. The taste is there, but not that objectionable in its diluted state.

I have heard that a "sleep pillow" stuffed with herbs such as lavender flowers, chamomile, and hops- tucked under your pillow while you sleep- is good for insomnia; but go easy on the hops if you try them. The woman that told me about this said she tried a pillow of straight hops; she slept for 12 hours straight, and felt very "dopey" for the rest of the day.

Here's an idea I ran across in a book for getting children to take herbal medications, which are admittedly often bitter. Use Jello as a carrier for it! (make a tea of the herbs, and use the tea to make Jello). I know that Jello has lots of sugar, but when you have a cranky, sick child I say whatever works to get the medicine into them. It's only short term, after all.

 

[Emerald]

the Jello idea is fantastic. I'll have to remember that. I didn't harvest any of my hops this year. they were super buggy(Japanese beetles) and I didn't feel like spraying.
This was a crappy but still good summer(hows them apples haha) we had family things almost ever weekend.. from weddings to showers to reunions etc. and got some kind of stomach cootie in August and I am still having some issues here and there. I do have some tummy conditions aka no gallbladder, and that has it's own issues (dumping syndrome) but the cootie I had kept me down for two weeks and I was weak for almost a month. the silver lining.. I have lost over 24lbs since Dec of last year. and so far it isn't coming back. (now about 30 more to go and I will be happy)
I tried the poppy tincture last night.. not so tasty but the small small amount I took(about 5 drops) did seem to help with the falling asleep. I may take it again tonight to see how it goes.

 

[KellyK]

Many of the all naturals are a bit on the bitter side for children. I have mixed it with a bit of honey or sugar to help the kids take stuff. Kids do like sweets.

 

[Reuse-it]

I am excited about this thread.
I rooted a little cutting from a friends tea bush. ~And now I have a little tea bush.
I figure I can try green tea leaves in my ginger and orange peels, I do not have enough to try the ferment process yet.

We have wild poppies around here, but I do not think they are medicinal, but I will do some research. I had never thought of them as having any use other than pretty.

 

[Britesea]

The entire back fence of our half-acre is a wild rose hedge. The grey water from our kitchen sink and the washing machine empties out there, so they are very happy. Alternate years I will either harvest the tiny little rose hips for tea or the rose petals for jelly. I have three stands of stinging nettle that I harvest and dry for tea, as well as chamomile, sage (try it- it's addictive), peppermint, and raspberry leaves. I'm also planning on growing chicory to make 'toot coffee.
My favorite tea is Earl Grey, but I've never been able to recreate it using black tea and bergamot... it just doesn't taste the same.

 

[Puck-Puck]

While my friend was melting clean snow to conserve tank water, we discovered quite by accident "Douglas fir tea". The snow collected included a few tree needles, which flavoured the water in the pot of snow, as it simmered on the back of the stove. It only took a few needles to make a noticeable, pleasant flavour. Any evergreen that you like the flavour of will probably do--I can't think of any that are harmful in small doses? Definitely "Christmasy".

 

[Denim Deb]

Members of the pine family are actually quite high in vitamin C. And, most parts of the tree are, as some point in their life, edible.