C’est La Vie and Orange Spiced Tea

Well friends, I have some bad news, we had a really chilly night and an issue with the electricity in the greenhouse a few nights ago. Unfortunately most of my plants are not the cold-friendly kind and I am now starting over with some new seedlings. The only survivors were my nantes carrots, garlic bulbs, cabbage, lettuce, kale, and the parsley plant. It was a sad day in the garden but, such is life. I cleaned up the mess and moved forward.

I started all the new seeds inside this time, giving them a heated bed to germinate in and just transferred them outside to the greenhouse today. I am trying some ancho peppers, cherry tomatoes, big rainbow tomatoes, roma tomatoes, echinacea, and hibiscus (to be dried for tea). I decided to add those hibiscus plants because I have recently got into making my own tea blends and it is out of stock through the company I use. Tea has quickly become my favorite thing to have before bed when I’m winding down from the day. Wine is also a good option, but I try to save that for the weekend. 🙂

With not much going on in the garden and Christmas coming up I thought I would share a recipe I put together for an Orange Spiced Tea that I am gifting to friends and family and that I also enjoy myself. I based this off of the Celestial Seasoning’s Mandarin Orange Spice tea, even though I have to admit, I have not bought this in a long time, going totally off of memory here! This makes about 4 cups of dried tea. I store mine in 12 oz. mason jars with a tight fitting lid.

Orange Spiced Tea

1 cup dried orange peel

1 cup rose buds

½ cup lemon verbena

½ cup lemon balm

½ cup blackberry leaves

¼ cup hawthorn leaves

¼ cup cinnamon chips

1 Tbsp whole cloves, crush before adding

Add all ingredients together and stir well. Add to container with lid. 

To prepare, add 2 tsp of the mixture to a tea ball, put in a mug with boiling water, cover your cup and let it steep for 15 minutes.

Hope you try this recipe out and that you enjoy it!