Growing Live Tea Plants for Your Own Tea
by Ron Campbell
 

  Everyone can grow Tea plants. Now you can grow your own tea plants and enjoy the romance and health benefits of green tea. Live tea plants in your own yard! You can grow a Tea plant easily in the ground, a greenhouse or on a porch where you can bring it in during the winter.
  Camellia sinensis is an evergreen shrub grown in part shade to full shade. Most are hardy from zone 6B to zone 7B. Meaning that frost hardiness for most varieties is 25°F in pots and about 0 to 5°F in open ground. They love warm wet summers and moderately cold dry winters, but can prosper surprisingly well in a range of adverse climatic conditions, tolerating dry summers and wet winters.
  Tea plants can be grown at sea level, but the best teas are cultivated at altitudes between 3000 and 7000 feet. Wild tea bushes grow to 50 feet or more; commercially grown tea plants are pruned to about four or five feet high so that pickers can reach the top leaves.

* Growing Tea plants in the ground.
  Camellia sinensis likes well-drained and sandy soil that is on the acidic side or neutral, preferring a pH between 5 and 7. You can add sulfur to the ground to acidify the soil. Don’t add Lime as it will make the soil too alkaline.
  When planting, add a generous amount of humus such as compost, leaf mold, or coarse peat to the soil. Be careful not to plant too deeply; as with azaleas and rhododendrons, the base of the stem should be slightly higher than the surrounding soil.
  A two- to four-inch layer of mulch is desired to help the soil retain moisture and to minimize alternate freezing and thawing in winter. During its first season, water a new plant thoroughly once a week unless there has been at least one inch of rain. If the winter is a dry one, watering may also be necessary during mild spells. Camellias are not heavy feeders, so fertilizer should be used sparingly. An acidic fertilizer may be applied in early spring and followed by a second light application in June. Plants may be pruned to remove weak or dead branches, to control size or leggy growth, or to renew the vigor of older plants. Heavy pruning is best done in spring, before the plants have begun to produce new growth.
  Although it's grown commercially in full sun, many experts recommend giving it open, high shade, not the shade of deciduous trees with competitive root systems, but under tall pines.

* Growing Tea plants in a pot.
  The directions for growing the plants in a pot are the same as above, only use a fast draining soil mix of sand, peat, fine bark shavings and soil. Do not over water!! Let the soil dry out a bit between waterings. Repot as the plant grows or thin back the roots if you plan to keep the Tea plant in one pot for the life of the shrub.
  Like fine wine, the quality, flavor, and aroma of tea is influenced by its surroundings. Soil, climate, temperature, rainfall, and altitude all contribute to the unique characteristics of each plant and leaf.

* Processing you own Tea.
  Once your tea plant is growing well, you'll need to harvest and process your tea leaves. From your plant, you can make black, green or oolong tea.
- Green Tea:
Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
Blot the leaves dry, and let dry in the shade for a few hours.
Steam the leaves (like you would vegetables) on your stove for about a minute.
For a different flavor, try roasting them in a skillet for 2 minutes instead of steaming.
Spread the leaves on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
Store the dried tea leaves in an air-tight container
- Oolong Tea:
Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
Spread them out on a towel under the sun and let them wilt for about 45 minutes.
Bring your leaves inside and let them sit at room temperature for a few hours.
Make sure to stir the leaves up every hour.
The edges of the leaves will start to turn red as they begin to dry.
Spread the leaves on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
Store the dried tea leaves in an air-tight container.
- Black Tea:
Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
Roll the leaves between your hands, and crush them until the leaves start to darken and turn red.
Spread them out on a tray, and leave them in a cool location for 2-3 days.
Dry them in the oven at 250F for about 20 minutes.
Store in an air-tight container.
Once you get the hang of it, try experimenting with different drying times to get different tastes. Mix your teas with jasmine or hibiscus flowers for a lovely summer tea right from your garden.

* Purchasing your Tea Plant.
  Tea Plants are now available at Merkaba's retail store which is located up in the mountain destination Idyllwild, in Southern California.

Ron and Kathy Campbell own and operate Merkaba, a retail and online store that features a wide variety of teas and tea items. Their teas come from all over the world and include organic herbal teas, healing teas, Yerba Mate, green teas, black teas, oolong, white teas, pu-erh, flavored tisanes, chai teas, flavored and blended teas. You'll find all kinds of tea products including filters, thermometers, tea bag squeezers, tea cozies, gourds, tea pots and tea sets, mugs and cups, mesh tea infusers, bombilla and even coffee and tea scoops. Read more about Ron & Kathy’s tea shop - Merkaba.
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