| |
- Dried herbs
- Seal-them-yourself tea bags
- Wax paper
- An iron
- Ironing board
- Spoon
Chamomile, mint, lemon grass, anise, borage, lemon balm and rosemary all make great choices for homemade teas. Use separately or mix and match flavors to come up with your own brew. Have fun with it! Make sure your herbs are properly dried before beginning this project!
The best time to harvest your herbs is mid-morning, after the morning dew has evaporated and before the afternoon heat has caused any of the oils in the plant to evaporate. Do not let your herbs flower, as this distracts from the flavor. Rather, deadhead/pinch (remove) the flowers so that the leaves/foliage are more flavorful. Most herb plants you can harvest 2/3 of the plant at a time, let it grow, and harvest again.
To dry your herbs, first follow the harvesting method described above. After harvesting, wash your herbs thoroughly and blot the wet herbs with paper towels, gently lifting the water from the leaves and stems. You can either hang your herbs to dry or dry them on a mesh/screen tray (for good circulation).
No matter which method you decide, make certain to dry your herbs in a warm, dry place out of direct sunlight (an attic, dry cellar or dark room are suitable). Never hang your herbs in a warm kitchen or garage, as steam and fumes can be a problem. To hang your herbs to dry, simply bunch and tie at the end and hang on hooks (or something similar). You may want to spread newspaper below the herbs, as seeds and bits of the herbs may fall to the ground, creating a mess.
If your herbs are going to be used for culinary purposes (such as tea bags), it is wise to cover the bunches with a thin material (such as muslin) to keep dust away from your drying herbs. For a tray drying method, make sure there is good circulation; the tray needs a mesh bottom so that air can circulate below the tray. Cuttings with small leaves (such as thyme) can be dried on the stems and stripped once dried. For herbs with larger leaves (such as basil), go ahead and remove the leaves from their stems and dry. It is much easier to remove the leaves from their stems before they dry!
If you do not have a suitable location to dry your herbs, you can dry them in an oven at 122 degrees F (or lowest temperature setting your oven will allow), making sure the door is left ajar. Once your herbs are crackly dry, you can store the whole leaves in airtight containers for six months to a year (crackle when you are ready to use them).
Purchase some seal-them-yourself tea bags at your local health food store. Make sure to read the instructions on the box as the bags you purchase may be slightly different and have different instructions than those that follow. Usually, these tea bags come in strips, attached to one another. You can choose to leave them attached or separate them, whichever works best for you!
Place your tea bags on your ironing board so that the open end of each bag is facing up. Place a spoonful of dried herbs in each bag so that each bag is loosely filled. Turn iron on low (adults will need to handle the ironing part of this project!). Along the open edge of the bags, you’ll notice an extra width of tea bag material; fold this over to cover the open edge and make a crease along the fold line. Carefully iron the bags to seal the open edge.
Once all of your tea bags are sealed and cooled, place in a sheet of wax paper. Fold the paper so that air does not readily come into contact with the bags; doing so will help your tea stay fresh longer. Viola! You have some wonderful homemade tea bags that you can share with your friends. A tasty treat for all to enjoy!
|
