Easy to Grow Herbs for Tea

Herbal tea may sound exotic, and many store-bought mixes do have creative mixes of herbs from around the world. But if you want a little home-grown herbal goodness in your cup, there is no reason why you can’t grow a nice selection of tea herbs in your own garden.

All you need is a sunny patch in the yard, and you can start your own herbal tea garden. Several of these can even grow in pots on a windowsill if you want to have your herb garden inside.

The herbs listed here are all perennials, meaning they will grow back year after year without you having to plant any more seeds. So once you have your tea garden established, it should produce a fresh crop of herbs for a very long time all on its own. What could be easier.

Chamomile

Chamomile is probably one of the most popular herbs for tea, and it’s super easy to grow on your own. A spot with full sun and well-drained soil is all you need.

Unlike most other herbs where you use the leaves, it’s the little white and yellow flowers you want for chamomile. Harvest the blossoms in the summer when they are in full bloom. They will continue to produce flowers for a while, so you should get a few separate harvests each season.

In tea, they have a unique apple flavor that tastes very nice on its own. Chamomile is known to be very relaxing and is often used as a bedtime tea to help you sleep.

Lemon Balm

The name says it all with lemon balm. The leaves have a very distinct lemony smell and taste, and they make a zesty tea. It’s a pretty hardy plant that will grow throughout the USA as long as you don’t have really extreme weather. A spot with a little shade is going to be best, especially if you have very warm summers. Keep it well watered and you should have a thriving patch of plants for years.

Pick the leaves when they reach full size, but not so many as to kill the plant. Or if you prefer a less on-going chore, you can cut large parts of the plant off in the fall and take most of the leaves at once.

Catnip

Even if you don’t have a feline friend in your life, catnip should be part of your tea-growing plans. You’ll want a sunny spot for catnip, and make sure to allow for a mature plant that can be up to 4 feet high. Keep it regularly watered.

Handle the plants just like with the lemon balm, Either harvest leaves in small batches through the season or cut down the whole plant when it is getting close to the onset of winter. If you harvest the mature plant, the leaves will have a stronger flavor. Leaves are used for making tea, though you can add in the flowers if you want.

It makes a very healthy tea that can help with cold symptoms or digestive problems. Ladies are fond of it for PMS relief, and it can make you drowsy just like chamomile.

Mint

This stuff grows like a weed and will spread all over your garden if you don’t keep it trimmed back. It’s the perfect plant for anyone with an otherwise brown thumb. Like catnip, it can be several feet high (and across once the bunch gets going), but you can keep it trimmed back if you want to grow it in a small spot or a container. In fact, you’ll have to do some trimming each year or you will find that your entire garden has been taken over.

Plant your mint in a sunny spot and harvest leaves or sprigs through the season. At the end of the summer, you can take the whole plant. For some taste variety, you can try growing several different types of mint like pineapple mint, orange mint, spearmint or even chocolate mint. They all make excellent tea.

True Tea

If you are thinking about growing a bush or two of true tea, that is Camellia sinensis, you’ll have to be living in a very warm area for that to work. Basically, anything in Zone 8 or warmer (which means the American south or Mid-west). Indoors might work if you have enough sun, and you have slightly acidic soil. It grows as a shrub, and you can start picking leaves for tea after about 3 years.

Using Your Herbs

Unlike fresh herbs that are used for cooking, you’ll likely want these to be dried when making tea. A dehydrator works wonders for this, but you certainly don’t need one. Spread out your herbal bits on a piece of cheese cloth and let them dry out in warm air. You shouldn’t need to bake them in the over or anything like that. Then store your dried herbs in a container away from humid conditions and bright light.

Add a tablespoon or two of dried herbs to a cup of near-boiling water and steep for 10 to 20 minutes (taste test until you get it to your liking). That’s all there is to it.