Today I started to make The Kettle Garden's first dedicated beds, on grass around an existing tree. I laid down a couple of layers of cardboard that I had collected from around town. Next it’s the green waste compost and woodchip to go on! Thanks Pingle for tractor help moving the ton bags!
The aim for this first year of The Kettle Garden is to see how plants can be grown, harvested, processed and blended. I plan to try growing a small of amount of loads of different plants and then to decide on a handful of blends to try producing on a larger scale next year. Here is the full list of plants I'd like to trial. They either already grow in my home garden, can be foraged or are going to be grow in The Kettle Garden this year.
Tea
Oat tops (Avena sativa, Avena nuda)
Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
Borage (Borago officinalis)
Mugwart (Artemisia vulgaris)
Golden Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) 'Aureum'
Mint (Mentha spicata: Swiss Ricola; Tangerine Mint; Sweet Lemon Mint)
Liquorice mint (Agastache rugosa)
Cola plant (Artemisia abrotanum)
Sweet tea vine (Gynostemma pentaphyllum)
Ladies mantle (Alchemilla erythropoda)
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)
Tea (Camellia sinensis)
Siberian Ginseng (Acanthopanax senticosus)
Valarian (Valeriana officinalis)
Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza yunnanensis)
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) ‘Vera’
Thyme ‘Tabor’
Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) ‘Green Ginger’
Sage (Salvia officinalis) ‘Tricolor’ & ‘Nazareth’
Salvia (Salvia elegans) ‘Pineapple’
Lemons verbena (Aloysia citrodora)
Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Violet (Viola odorada)
Pelargonium ‘Attar of Roses’, ‘Prince of roses’, ‘Tomentosum’
Rose (Rosa Rugosa)
Mallow (Malva sylvestris, Malva moschata)
Peony (Paeonia lactiflora) ‘Ma Petite Cherie’ ‘Edulis Superba’
Blackcurrent (Ribes nigrum)
Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)
Gorse (Ulex europaeus)
Broom (Cytisus scoparius)
Apple - various
Cherry (Prunus avium) ‘Sunburst’ ‘Hertford’
Juniper (Juniperus communis)
Bay (Laurus nobilis)
Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
Mulberry (Morus alba)
Lime (Tilda Cordata)
Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra)
Hawthorn (Crataegus)
Elder (Sambucus nigra)
Coffee
Cleavers (Galium aparine)
Barley (Hordeum Vulgare) ie ‘Pirona’
Dandelion (cultivated Taraxacum)
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) ‘Chiavari’ and ‘Roseum’
Perennial Sow Thistle (Sonchus arvensis)
Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus)
Chocolate root (Geum rivale)
Holm Oak (Quercus ilex)
Obviously the most important thing is to choose blends taste really really good and contain plants long known to be beneficial to consume. Beyond that, there are two other considerations 1) I am going to grow a few tender things (that need a frost-free home over winter) and some annual plants but the aim is to use as many hardy trees, shrubs and perennials as possible - things that grow easily round here with little effort. The aim will also be to choose plants that grow well as companions for each other.
2) It is also important that chosen plants are easy to process with limited equipment, time and energy (time in oven etc) inputs. The processes I need to experiment with include:
harvesting: flowers, leaves and shoots simply need to be nipped off by hand, but there might be other ways to harvest things like tiny cleavers seeds. Barley needs to be threshed and winnowed.
drying: plants can be dried - quickly in a warm oven or dehydrator, more slowly simply by hanging inside or outside, or in a ‘solar drier’.
oxidisation: black tea is made from leaves that have been crushed a little and left in the air - this process is not needed for herbal teas like mint but can be part of making tea with fruit bush leaves. Might it be that oxidised leaves stand up to being mixed with milk, unlike most herbal teas?
roasting: what distinguishes coffee is that it has been roasted…
Woo! It’s great to see what you plan 🙂 I don’t know how far apart different mints need to be, but I remember someone telling me to make sure that different varieties are far enough apart to maintain their individuality.