Self-Sufficiency Tip for Tea Lovers

I have this simple, boringly simple habit: I gather herbs for tea. I am not a tea lover. But I like to make it from time to time and drink it like that, unsweetened or sweetened with honey and lemon, rather like a juice. Especially in the summer, when I come from outside, I enjoy it very much and it replaces the commercial juice, which is not a healthy option.

Tea plants are all year round but most are from spring to autumn. If I have lived in a house, I would definitely be more careful and learn more about plants and have them there to pick. Living in a block of flats has its limits. This doesn’t stop me from doing what I can. Here’s what I do with the plants that get in my way, especially during the summer.

I keep all the cherry and sour cherry stalks. I buy elderflowers, especially for elderflower cordial and what’s left, for tea. I keep all the corn silk from the cobs that are eaten in the house. If I can reach some linden branches, when they are in bloom, I pick the linden flowers. I also like lavender so I buy bouquets from the market and after a while, when they dry, the flowers end up in the jar. If I walk in the nature and find chamomile, mint, St. John’s wort and what else I recognize, they all end up in my hand. Then they are dried and put in recycled jars, because no matter how much I like the idea of having new and identical sets of jars of different sizes, I collect and throw away bottles that pollute and that I bought with something inside anyway. So I keep them, wash them, clean their labels and they are perfect. They are the same as the new ones, at least for me. The dried plants can still be kept in paper or canvas bags, but it’s easier for me, for now. 🙂

I know that not everyone does that, but if you’ve changed your mind in the meantime, it’s never too late. You only have advantages. You also avoid envelopes with powdered plants that are not very good, you make a small saving, sometimes you have an extraordinary perfume throughout the house, you have the joy and satisfaction of working with plants and most importantly, you keep your health. So now, when you eat plants from which certain parts, in the form of tea and infusions, etc., are beneficial to humans, you just have to keep them. Enjoy a beautiful summer!

Elena G

Una bucata idee de autonomie

Un obicei simplu, plictisitor de simplu, pe care il am eu, este acela de a strange plante pentru ceai. Nu sunt bautoare inraita. Insa imi place sa mai fac din cand in cand si sa beau asa, neindulcit sau indulcit cu miere si cu lamaie, ca pe un suc mai degraba. Mai ales vara, cand vin de afara, cade foarte bine si inlocuieste sucul din comert care nu e o varianta sanatoasa.

Plante pentru ceai sunt pe tot parcursul anului insa cele mai multe sunt din primavara pana in toamna. Daca as sta la casa, as fi cu siguranta mai atenta si as invata mai multe despre plante, fara sa vreau, si evident ca as culege. Fiind la bloc am niste limite. Insa ce tine de mine, nu las sa treaca. Iata ce fac eu cu plantele care imi ies in cale, de-a lungul verii mai ales.

Pastrez toate coditele de cirese si visine, cumpar flori de soc, special pentru socata si din ce ramane, pentru ceai, pastrez toata matasea de porumb de la porumbul care se consuma in casa, daca ajung la niste crengi de tei, cand sunt in floare, culeg. De asemenea, imi place lavanda, care, dupa ce s-a uscat in buchetelele cumparate din piata, ajunge in borcan. Daca ma plimb in natura si se nimereste, pot avea in casa musetel, izma, sunatoare si ce mai recunosc. Toate sunt uscate apoi si puse in borcane reciclate, pentru ca oricat de mult imi place ideea de a avea seturi noi si identice de borcane si borcanase, adun si arunc sticle care polueaza si pe care oricum le-am cumparat cu ceva inauntru. Asa ca le pastrez, le spal, le curat etichetele si sunt perfecte. Sunt la fel ca si cele noi, cel putin pentru mine. Ele se mai pot pastra in pungi de hartie sau panza insa mie imi e mai usor asa, deocamdata. 🙂

Stiu ca nu toata lumea face asta, insa daca cumva intre timp te-ai razgandit, niciodata nu e prea tarziu. Ai parte numai de avantaje. Eviti plicurile cu plante praf care nu sunt prea bune, faci o mica economie, uneori ai un parfum extraordinar in toata casa, natural, ai bucuria si satisfactia de a lucra cu plantele si cel mai important, iti pastrezi sanatatea. Asa ca acum, cand mai consumi plante de la care anumite parti, sub forma de ceai si infuzii, etc, sunt benefice pentru om, nu trebuie decat sa le pastrezi. Vara frumoasa!

Elena G