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
Sweet Nothings 