How to Harvest and Dry Herbs and Flowers For Tea

If you enjoy herbal teas, harvest and dry your own herbs to have on hand for making delicious tea. Homegrown herbs tend to provide more flavorful and potency-packed tea than store bought options.

Harvest chamomile flowers when their white petals have taken an inverted position on the flower and before its blooms wilt or turn brown, and as early in the day as possible to ensure freshest results.

Picking

Herbs differ from most vegetables in that they require little space for cultivation, thriving just fine in patches of ground in your garden or potted containers on your patio. Furthermore, herbs thrive indoors under grow lights – making them an excellent crop to cultivate at home or greenhouse.

Harvesting the ideal leaves or flowers for tea can be an art, with each plant having a distinctive flavor. Some herb leaves work best fresh while others taste best dried; some offer refreshing grassiness while others feature floral or spicy notes. Steeping time also plays a factor, along with ingredients like berries, lemon or honey added into your cup.

When harvesting herbs, morning is the optimal time of day – after dew has dried off but before heat of the day has taken effect. Leafy herbs should typically be cut back by about one third to ensure continued growth while flowers should be picked just as their buds begin to open. Carefully wash herbs under cold water before shaking them dry before using or drying in small bunches and hanging in an airy space out of direct sunlight.

Dried mint and chamomile make delicious teas on their own, or can be combined with lavender and stevia for unique combinations. Other popular choices are fennel, lemon balm and nettle – there is truly no limit when it comes to creating the perfect blend!

Washing

Before harvesting fresh or dried herbs, it is crucial that they are washed thoroughly to remove insects, dirt and pollen that has accumulated on their leaves or stems, and detect any possible signs of disease or damage to them. Furthermore, this provides an opportunity to gain more knowledge about individual plant benefits, side effects or interactions it might have with other species.

In general, spring and summer are the optimal times for harvesting herbs for tea; at that time of year when plants are flourishing most vigorously, harvesting can yield herbs with fuller flavors and aromas as well as no chemical residue that has built up throughout the season. Ensuring your garden remains well maintained with regular fertilization efforts and keeping out weeds will help ensure plants reach their optimum state for tea harvesting.

When harvesting flowers for herbal tea, it’s essential that only the most aromatic and delicate blooms are selected. Furthermore, any that may have been exposed to pesticides or chemicals should also be avoided.

Once washed and dried, herbs and flowers should be placed on a screen or rack in a cool and well-ventilated location to dry. Bunching them together increases drying time considerably; as with all herbs it is advised that any signs of mold be monitored closely during this process.

Once herbs and flowers have been dried, they can be used in many different ways to make tea. Most herbs can be added directly to boiling water and steeped for three to five minutes for an herbal infusion; tea bags can also be filled with the herbs to create quick beverages on-the-go.

Hanging

Herbs and flowers make for delightful tea, both fresh and dried, as well as being useful medicinally; for instance they can soothe an upset stomach and reduce pain, and contain antioxidants that protect against disease while fighting inflammation. It is thought that drinking herbal tea could lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels – leading to less risk of heart attack or stroke.

To dry herbs properly, you will require a space that provides air circulation while drying them – either hanging them from a hook or spreading them out on a flat surface. To speed up this process, stripping leaves from stalks or gathering into bunches can speed up drying times considerably; when tied with twine or string and hung in an ideal dark-ventilated environment they may take two weeks until fully dry – be sure to check on them daily as this process could take much longer!

For optimal harvesting of herbs for drying purposes, select them early in the morning once the dew has evaporated and before the heat of the day sets in. Although herbs can be picked either before or after they flower, when they have reached their optimal flavorful potential is best.

Building a simple herb drying screen by sewing together scrap fabric or an old tea towel is a simple yet effective way to dry herbs quickly. If you have a small garden, this project would make an excellent outdoor activity; otherwise it works equally well in the kitchen or on protected outdoor space. Make sure that your frame can hold the weight of hanging herbs; additionally sew corners of cloth securely onto its frame to keep from sag!

Drying

If you harvest a lot of herbs or flowers for tea, it’s advisable to dry them before the weather turns cold in order to preserve their flavor and potency for winter use – particularly if combined with ingredients such as hibiscus and rose hips.

Herbs and flowers can be dried in various ways, but the most straightforward and popular technique is hanging them in bunches in a dark room out of direct sunlight. This works great for leafy herbs like basil or mint; however, this approach may cause woody stems (such as lavender or chamomile) to collapse, leading to loss of flavor. Instead, consider drying these in a rack or wide woven basket instead, and making sure it has sufficient air flow if you choose a rack method; you should check them frequently and remove any that are becoming crispy or yellow-looking.

Or you could opt for dehydrators. They make drying herbs quickly and relatively easily; just be sure that your model supports low heat settings for the best experience. It would also be wise to invest in small scissors so as to quickly clip leaves and flowers without leaving gaps in your drying screen.

Garble your herbs for an enjoyable final step that produces crumbled, shredded, and ready-to-use herbs. A half-inch hardware cloth screen works best as this allows the herbs to pass through into your bucket or bowl below.

Storing

There are a multitude of complex factors that affect how long herbs and flowers last. Unfortunately, most of us lack the means or desire to precisely control for all these factors – therefore achieving maximum herbal freshness requires more art than science. Here are some general guidelines which should help ensure you achieve the best results:

Herbs and flowers used for tea should be stored in an airtight container that keeps out air and humidity; an ideal option would be a jar with a tight-fitting lid, though any Ziploc bag should work. It’s important to keep the herbs as dry as possible in order to ensure their fragrance stays intact and remains fragrant.

If herbs stale and begin to yellow as part of the natural aging process, this does not necessarily indicate they have gone bad; it could simply mean changing storage conditions to colder temperatures away from potentially ethylene-producing food such as tomatoes, avocados or ripe bananas.

Make a quick, delicious cup of herbal tea easily: just combine one teaspoon or 1/4 cup of dried herbs with boiling water in a mug, let sit for three to five minutes and then enjoy!

If you want a stronger brew, increase the amount of dried herbs used per mug or pot by doubling or tripling their amount, before adding some sugar to sweeten to your taste. Or for something refreshingly cool during hot weather days, add a few ice cubes before the heat hits for an icy cool treat or use salt as an accentual flavor enhancer by giving more depth to its taste and adding depth of flavor with each spice and herb used.