Mid summer marks a time for celebration at the garden, as the flowers bloom and the vegetables grow, we can finally put up our feet and begin to enjoy the fruits of our labour.
Usually, we would be planning a party on the plot, but this year we encourage everyone to pick a favourite spot outdoors, set up a picnic and refresh the senses with some home-grown delights.
Here we have listed some uplifting and calming teas made from our very own flowers and herbs, and suggested some refreshing ‘mocktails’ to mix, complete with edible flower ice cubes to bring some cheer to your glass.
Teas:
Generally, when making herbal teas, it is necessary to prepare your tea mixes in advance by harvesting and drying your herbs, ideally in a dehydrating machine overnight, or by hanging them upside down in bunches somewhere warm until they are completely dry (make sure they don’t go ‘musty’ in the middle).
When dry, crunch leaves such as nettles and lemon balm into smaller tea leaves and store them in airtight jars mixed with your selected flowers and peels. Then label and enjoy your mid summer flavours late into the year.
As a rule, when adding your tea mix to the teapot, use one teaspoon per person and ‘one for the pot’. Then add your boiling water and leave to ‘steep’ for five minutes. Some pots have a built in vessel for holding the tea leaves in place when pouring, or you can use a separate strainer to catch the leaves and prevent them from falling into the cup.
A Moroccan teapot is designed so that you can put whole springs of mint leaves directly into the pot, and they will not make their way down the spout. It’s best to make mint tea with fresh leaves rather than dried, for an extra fresh flavour. Add honey to sweeten either to your pot or cup directly.
If you don’t have a teapot, use an individual tea strainer submerged into your cup of hot water. Leave to steep and remove before drinking, then relax and enjoy the taste of your homegrown teas whilst reaping the benefits of their healing properties.
Mint and Honey Tea
You will need:
Mint – fresh from the garden
Honey – local organic honey is the best
This is such a simple and delicious blend, just pick the top 5 leaves from your fresh mint plant and add a handful to your pot. Steep for 5 minutes and add 1 teaspoon of honey to your cup to taste. There are many varieties of mint to try, from sweet mint to spearmint flavour, so have fun with experimenting with what works for you.
Lemon Balm and Grapefruit Tea
You will need:
Lemon balm (a few large handfuls, pre-dried)
Grapefruit rind (1x grapefruit rind grated and pre-dried)
Ginger (1x teaspoon, freshly grated, added to cup to taste)
IF YOU ARE ON MEDICATION PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU ARE ABLE TO CONSUME GRAPEFRUIT – AVOID IF ON MEDICATION FOR EPILEPSY AND ANXIETY.
To make a brew of lemon balm, grapefruit (peel) and fresh ginger tea, mix your dried ingredients together and store; when ready add I teaspoon per person to your pot plus one teaspoon for the pot, add your boiling water. Steep for 5 minutes, pour, and add approximately 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger direct to your cup to taste. Stir and enjoy.
Chamomile and Lavender Tea
You will need:
Chamomile flowers (handful of heads – pre-dried)
Lavender flowers (handful of flowers – pre-dried)
To make a Chamomile and Lavender infusion from your dried flower heads, just add a teaspoon of chamomile flowers into your strainer, with half a teaspoon of lavender flowers and leave to steep in your cup for 5 minutes. Top up with a bit more hot water and enjoy this soothing blend.
Healing benefits of your tea blends:
Lemon balm – great for anxiety and insomnia, a digestive also, perfect for a bedtime brew. Lemon balm is also in lots of natural anti depressants so helpful during bouts of anxiety.
Grapefruit – appetite stimulant, great for removing fatty deposits, helps to regulate the appetite so is helpful for people dealing with weight issues. Grapefruit is also a detoxifier, so good for a hangover, and regulates sleep hence used by people who travel a lot. It also helps to focus and clear the mind, so great during exam time.
Ginger – good for nausea and sickness, generates heat in the body, great for people who do too much; a cup of ginger tea is stimulating yet grounding, leaving you active without the need for caffeine. It is also excellent for muscle cramps, post exercise recovery, and during menstruation.
Mint – stimulating and refreshing, helps to boost your metabolism and aids digestion. Mint is anti-inflammatory and helps open the airways, so great for asthma sufferers and for general cough and cold remedies.
Honey – natural antiseptic, antihistamine, and general all round brilliant healing super-food. Put direct onto skin for cuts and boils, it is also an antidote for bee stings (after removing the sting). Great for gardeners!
Chamomile – sedative, relaxing, and useful for sleep remedies because of its calming effect. It is soothing to the skin and can be used as a compress on scalds. It’s also good for the digestive system and helps relax the stomach.
Lavender – calming, good for sleep, a sedative for the nervous system, perfect for relieving worry, stress, and migraines. Use in combination with lavender flowers mixed with rice in an eye bag placed over the eyes at night to encourage relaxation and a good nights sleep.
Mocktails:
Ice cube tray preparation:
Prepare ice cubes by placing edible flowers from the garden into ice cube trays. Make sure there are no pests on your petals or flower heads and be sure to use plants you know are safe to eat and haven’t been sprayed with pesticides.
Alternatives to flowers are small slices of lemon, lime, cucumber or frozen berries, which are available all year round from the shops. Arrange a selection of colourful flowers, fruits and berries into your tray, add water and freeze.
If using mint, pick the tiny top three mint leaves fresh from a spring of growing mint to add a refreshing zing to your cubes. Add water to your tray and place in the freezer.
Virgin Mojito
You will need:
Mint (handful of sweet mint per serving, third of your glass)
Limes (1x per serving cut into wedges)
Cucumber (chopped finely, with mint leaves, frozen in ice cubes)
Golden caster sugar (1x teaspoon per serving)
Sparkling Water (instead of rum and soda water)
Pestle and mortar
Tall glass
Spoon for stirring
Prepare ice cubes by finely chopping cucumber and mint leaves together, then add a teaspoon of your mix to each ice cube tray compartment, topping up with water. Place in the freezer until you are ready to mix your ‘mocktail’.
To make your virgin mojito, place half of your mint in a pestle and mortar, and put the remaining sprigs in a tall glass. Cut your lime into four wedges and squeeze three into your pestle and mortar. Muddle the mint, lime, and sugar together (crushing with the pestle), pour all the mint and liquid into your glass.
Add the used lime wedges to your glass (for extra flavour), then add your ice cubes and top up with your sparkling water, giving the mix a stir. Place you remaining wedge of lime onto your glass rim for decoration and enjoy your refreshing and delicious mojito ‘mocktail’!
Maiden Moon Walk
You will need:
Grapefruit (one slice for decoration on glass)
Grapefruit juice (a dash per serving, or freshly squeezed)
Sparkling water (instead of Prosecco)
Ginger (grated – a teaspoon)
Flower ice cubes (violas, rose bud, pansies, borage flowers)
When ready to make your Maiden Moon Walk, choose a pretty cocktail glass and slice your grapefruit in half. Squeeze one half of your grapefruit into your glass filling it a quarter full (you can use bottled grapefruit too). Take a slice from your remaining half grapefruit and save for decoration.
Grate a teaspoons’ worth of fresh ginger into your glass. Add a teaspoon of sugar and mix, then drop in your ice cubes, place the slice of grapefruit on the rim of your glass like a giant moon decoration, and relax and enjoy your lunar landing!
More options:
Another simple and refreshing drink to serve at any party on the plot is fresh dill in a jug of water. Add a couple of slices of lemon, and some pretty ice cubes you prepared earlier (lemon and lime works well) and off you go. Your visitors will love the taste of summer in a glass!
Healing benefits of your ‘mocktail’ mixes:
Mint – stimulating and refreshing, helps to boost your metabolism and aids digestion. Mint is anti-inflammatory and helps open the airways, so great for asthma sufferers and for general cough and cold remedies.
Lemon and Lime – both of these are great immunity boosting citrus fruits, so again fabulous for staving off coughs and colds.
Grapefruit – appetite stimulant, great for removing fatty deposits, helps to regulate the appetite so is helpful for people dealing with weight issues. Grapefruit is also a detoxifier, so good for a hangover, it also regulates sleep hence used by people who travel a lot. It also helps to focus and clear the mind, so great during exam time.
Ginger – good for nausea and sickness, generates heat in the body, good for people who do too much; a cup of ginger tea is stimulating yet grounding, leaving you active without the need for caffeine. It is also great for muscle cramps, post exercise recovery, and during menstruation.
Dill – is great for digestion, including loss of appetite, and good for treatment of coughs and colds, cramps, and sleep disorders amongst other things, so and all round fabulous plant, great with fish dishes too.
