Tea

[moominmama]

Quick question, am stocking up on coffee, tea, etc. but space is becoming a real issue so looking into growing tea plant for longer term. Done fair bit of on line research, we are in South East so milder winters, and I already grow Blue Berry plants in pots very successfully (also acid loving). Question is, has anyone else on the boards tried this, and if so was it successful in term of you getting a decent drinkable crop, and how much tlc and time did it take. On line research looks good but that is also from companies that sell the plants and they are not cheap - cynical me.

[Arzosah]

I know what you mean about space issues with tea. I've started buying loose tea, which is so compact in comparison with tea bags! I can't face doing it first thing in the morning, even though I grew up doing exactly that, but for the rest of the day, I'm trying to use loose tea.

About research - I don't know if the Eden Project will have any? I've only been once, but I distinctly remember that in one of the biomes there were half a dozen tobacco plants, which are usually grown in much hotter climates.

Good luck with the project!

[moominmama]

I tend to do reverse - Irish breakfast or Belfast brew loose leaf tea in mornings, and then Yorkshire tea bags throughout day to evening, and evening switch to honeybush. Suki tea were doing half price sale on large bags of loose leaf at start of year, got enough for 2 years at current usage levels - but huge chunk of storage gone, but at half price could not pass up getting as much as could afford.

[GillyBee]

I have one tea plant. It is in a bog pot and is about 60 cm tall. (It was a present & came from the RHS Wisley garden centre) They are a type of camellia and need the same treatment. I do not view it as a good strategy for a mornig cuppa.
1) Tea needs to be fermented to make English black tea so picking the leaves only gives me green tea.
2) You can only pick the new leaves so the crop is limited. I think I will get enough for half a dozen cups. Maybe this would improve if i put more effort into pruning, maybe not but I doubt I will ever get more than a week or two supply from it a year.

I also store loose tea as much more compact than teabags.

[ForgeCorvus]

Over time tea bushes become flat topped (I think they are even called 'Tables') and they can be picked several times over a season...... Can you tell I've looked into it before.

[Happyhatter]

Like others use loose leaf tea personally prefer taste to bags

[rik_uk3]

Not worth the space in terms of nutritional value, buy loose tea and vacuum pack it, even tea bags pack down well when vac sealed. Freeze dried tea is OK and available in the big supermarkets. Online you can buy brews like freeze dried apple tea if you shop around. For me a quick brew is tea bags, a proper brew is always loose tea

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[PreppingSu]

There is a place in Cornwall that grows and produces tea
https://tregothnan.co.uk/

It might be worth trying other 'teas' that can be grown very easily eg nettle tea, lemon balm tea, mint tea.

You can only stock so much and what happens when it runs out? So what's your plan B tea?

[grenfell]

I don't really see tea as much more than a novelty to grow and that when times are relatively good. If we get to the point that real tea is either unavailable or so highly priced as to be generally unaffordable then I would think priority would be given to crops with nutritional value although there may be a market for it to be grown as a cash crop if one has the space.
So what to do as an alternative? I've mentioned this one before but rosebay willow herb would be my choice. It's a very common weed , grows pretty much everywhere and is easy to gather and process. In terms of processing at the most basic level just simply drying it out can work but a little more involved processing can be done. Plenty of videos on youtube , search for rosebay willow herb tea , Ivan tea or Ivan char. To me the biggest thing going for it is that it actually tastes like tea unlike a lot of herbal brews.

[GillyBee]

The other classic, popular in WW2 is blackberry/bramble leaf tea. I havent tried this yet but will give it a go as I am visiting the bushes any way for blackberries.
I won't be storing it. If we get to the point where the brambles dont grow we are in deeper trouble than a lack of brew.