SPOTLIGHT ON: HERBAL TEA
If you’re fed up with the same old hot drinks, why not make your own homegrown herbal teas?
There are any number of garden flowers, leaves and herbs you can infuse to produce a refreshing, healthy and caffeine-free hot drink.
One of the most delightful is nettle tea. When the clumps in your wildlife patch come to life early in spring, carefully pick a handful of the tender young tips and top-most leaves, then wash briefly under a cold tap.
Put one heaped teaspoonful of chopped leaves in a teapot or metal infuser, and add a cup of nearly boiling water.
Leave to steep for five minutes, then drink just as it is or add 1tsp honey. Nettle tea acts as a tonic due to the vitamin C it contains.
For an aromatic tea that is good for digestion, sow pots of dill, caraway and aniseed on a warm windowsill indoors now.
Once the leaves have grown big enough to cut, use a mixture of the leafy clippings in the same way as nettle.
Mint also makes brilliant tea. At this time of year a
potful of roots can be easily forced into early growth on a windowsill indoors.
Camomile tea makes a great bedtime drink as it helps you sleep. Buy a camomile plant from a garden centre (make sure it’s Roman camomile) and grow in a window box or tub on the patio.
Pick flowers just as they open fully. Use them fresh, or dry and store in airtight jars in a cool, dark cupboard.
To spice it up add a slice of lemon or a sprig of mint.