Make your own tea!

[heatherlynnky]

I have an awesome neighbor. He is older and owns 168 acres. On this he has 3 stocked ponds, nut trees, tons of wild roses, pear trees and tons to forage. I have permission to do so and he has never done any spraying. its really kinda wild land. Its awesome

 

[Jardin]

If you live in the south you should look up camilla. That is what black, green, and white tea is made from. Green and white seem simple enough, don't know about black.

For me I live in zone 5 so I can do the herbal teas: chicory (grows wild), oswego (aka bee balm, mix with black tea to get Earl Grey), mint (any mint I hear chocolate is good, I have spearmint), catnip, and chamomile. There are others too but those are what I have. Others include rose hip, alfalfa, nettle (look that one up on youtube it will change color!), oatstraw, etc.

Some roses don't really develop hips. The hip is the seed pod of the rose. A tea egg is like a metal tea bag for loose tea.

 

[Marianne]

This is great info, I'm glad it came to light again.

My mom has an ancient tea egg, holds plenty of tea leaves. After looking in several places, all I could find was a smaller tea ball. It's okay, but wouldn't be my first choice. It's just not big enough as you can fill one half, then close the other half over it. My mother's has a screw on top.

My neighbor got tired of fighting her tea ball so she ordered little muslin bags that have a drawstring. Now we're talking - you can stuff as many berries, herbs, whatever in that little bag.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Various mints for gastritis (not me), chamomile to relax, corn silk for kidney problems, elder for any infection process, ginger for warmth and several that are about to be implemented.....just started. Reason I use teas, are all for medicinal uses. More to follow, as I learn more herbology.

 

[nelson castro]

Various mints for gastritis (not me), chamomile to relax, corn silk for kidney problems, elder for any infection process, ginger for warmth and several that are about to be implemented.....just started. Reason I use teas, are all for medicinal uses.

Great information being shared..

 

[me&thegals]

Mint. Strip the leaves off the stems and dehydrate in dehydrator, bag for winter use.

 

[aclarkmeyers]

I have grown chamomile flowers and made tea from them, but I'm not a big tea-drinker so don't really bother buying it much.

Chamomile is actually really good in smoothies if you aren't interested in having it as tea. I can't post links yet because I'm fairly new, but you can google Chamo-Berry Banana Smoothie. It's really good!

 

[Emerald]

The hip is the base where the petals attach. They will swell up and turn orange or red. So if you dead head your roses, you won't get hips. We have a ton of wild roses here but the type we have doesn't have a nice tart flavor so I leave them for the birds. The wild roses by my grandmas were very tasty, and I used to gather them. I like the hips best after first frost. I pick them, split them in half so I can scrape out the hairy seeds, rinse, and dehydrate.

I really need to plant a few old fashion roses so I can collect my own again. I like rose hip tea a lot. I have a 25 lb bag of dried ones I bought from the korean tea store last month.

Just make sure that the roses aren't spray with pesticides. Mom used to spray hers because of the aphids, but then she learned that soapy water worked just as well. She dead heads so no hips from her.

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..

 

[~gd]

The hip is the base where the petals attach. They will swell up and turn orange or red. So if you dead head your roses, you won't get hips. We have a ton of wild roses here but the type we have doesn't have a nice tart flavor so I leave them for the birds. The wild roses by my grandmas were very tasty, and I used to gather them. I like the hips best after first frost. I pick them, split them in half so I can scrape out the hairy seeds, rinse, and dehydrate.

I really need to plant a few old fashion roses so I can collect my own again. I like rose hip tea a lot. I have a 25 lb bag of dried ones I bought from the korean tea store last month.

Just make sure that the roses aren't spray with pesticides. Mom used to spray hers because of the aphids, but then she learned that soapy water worked just as well. She dead heads so no hips from her.

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..

Have you tried plantimg the rose hips? some are sterile because of the breeding is usually for the blooms and that is reason for deadheading too.The somple 5 petal rose produces lots of hips. Enough that they are considered weeds in cattle pastures. There are places on the internet where hunters go to buy productive hips to produce feed treats for deer and Turkeys and herbalists to get their stock. Poppys contain a small amount of opiates The opium poppy was bread to produce more [remember they they were once the prime source for pain killers and sleeping aids. I don't know your climate but here in NC they recommend that any of the true mints be grown in contairers to prevent them from spreading wildily~gd

 

[Britesea]

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 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?

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.