Annie & Skyler For the best cup of herbal tea, we say forage the leaves and flowers from herbs, veggies, and fruit growing right outside your backdoor.
We recently harvested mint and a few different herbs for a year’s worth of herbal tea, and that got us thinking: What other leaves could we harvest from our garden for tea? After some research, we found that the foliage of many veggie plants, fruit bushes, and trees are great additions to herbal tea—for both flavor and medicinal uses. So we went outside and harvested a wide variety of herbs and veggie/fruit leaves to dry for a “backyard tea” mixture. The results were truly delicious. The tea hits all kinds of flavor notes simultaneously for a cup that tastes like summer all year long.
Holy basil has a distinctly fragrant, spicy flavor—much more pronounced than regular sweet basil. Take care when mixing in strong herbs like this, as they can quickly dominate the flavor of your tea.
All kinds of mint are game for tea. We LOVE the bright, cool flavor of this mojito mint.
One of our more unusual additions, celery gives the tea a hint of bitterness and a bold depth of flavor.
Lemongrass is perfect for growing in pots—especially in areas of the world where it doesn’t overwinter. Let the plant look beautiful all summer, then harvest the leaves all the way down to the base, where the lemon flavor is most concentrated.
This batch of our backyard tea harvest includes wormwood, lemongrass, sweet potato leaves, artichoke leaves, apple mint, tarragon, and thyme. See what you can forage from your own backyard—just make sure what you are harvesting is safe to consume and avoid anything that has been treated with chemicals.
To Dry and Store Herbal Tea
1. You have a few options for drying the leaves. We spread a cloth on a table, then arrange cooling racks overtop and spread the leaves out in a single layer over the racks. You can also dry the leaves on by hanging them in bundles or on multi-tiered drying racks. The leaves can take up to 1 to 2 weeks to dry, depending on the moisture content in the leaves and air circulation. Speed up the process using a fan on low speed.
2. Once the leaves are dry and crisp, place them in a resealable plastic bag and store in a dry place with the bag completely open for about 2 weeks. This time allows any excess moisture deep within the stems to evaporate, so you avoid any mold on your tea.
3. Remove the leaves from the stems (or just crush up the stems along with the leaves!) and store them in an airtight container or jar up to 1 year.
Here’s a list of our favorite options for delicious backyard tea:
• Anise hyssop
• Artichoke leaves
• Basil—try Thai, holy, or lemon varieties for different flavors
• Chamomile
• Cilantro/coriander
• Currant leaves
• Fennel seeds
• Hops
• Lavender
• Lemon balm
• Lemon verbena
• Lemongrass
• Mint
• Raspberry leaves
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Sweet potato leaves
• Tarragon
• Thyme
• Wormwood, aka “Sweet Annie”
HERB-GROWING TIPS
• Start annuals, like basil, cilantro, and fennel, from seeds in the spring under grown lights, or purchase seedlings from a greenhouse or farmer’s market after your last frost date. Plant herbs a sunny or partially sunny (6 hours or more of sun per day). Take cuttings for tea throughout the growing season, right up until the first frost.
• Perennials such as thyme, sage, mints, and anise hyssop will return each year in zones where they are hardy if given plenty of sun and well-draining soil. (Mint can be invasive, so position it carefully or grow it in a pot.) These herbs can be harvested beyond frost and, in fact, prefer the cooler spring and fall weather.
• Tender perennials such as lemongrass, lemon verbena, and rosemary well grow in warm climates, but in cooler zones, like Iowa, you’ll need overwinter them indoors as houseplants (this works out about half the time for us) or simply grow as one-season annuals.
• Avoid over fertilizing herbs, which can result in too much soft growth of the leaves. This decreases the concentration of fragrant oils in the plant, which will result in flavorless tea.
TO MAKE TEA We love a tea infuser cups like this or disposable tea sachets like these for brewing herbal teas. However, for fresh leaves, you can just throw the whole sprig (or leaves or whatever) directly in your cup. And slightly cooled boiling water and steep leaves for 3 to 5 minutes. Any longer, and the tea can take on a bitter flavor. You can experiment with different herb combos or just mix up all your herbal gatherings for a tea that’s truly the flavor of your own backyard (just be sure the plants you use are safe to consume!). Take it from us—IT’S SO MUCH FUN! Happy brewing, ya’ll!
