Growing herbs for tea

We grow a few herbs specifically for tea each year. Today, I harvested the horehound to prepare for tea that we can enjoy when the cold weather comes. Horehound is in the peppermint family and has a lovely aroma and taste. Growing herbs for tea is such a rewarding venture!

You have a couple of options when drying herbs for tea. The first is a dehydrator and the second is hanging to air dry. I have done both, but, for today, I will be hanging these to air dry.

The first thing you have to do is choose which herbs you want to grow and start them in the spring so they will be ready to harvest before fall. Horehound comes back every year so you don’t have to worry about that.

Once I harvest it, I rinse it well in the sink and place on a dish towel to air dry.

Once it is air dried, I taking pieces of twine and tie no more than 3 sprigs together. Once I have them all tied together, I use the string to attach a clothespin to and hang them on a clothesline I have in a room that doesn’t get a lot of traffic to air dry for months. You will know it is ready when the leaves crumble in your hand.

Once it is completely dried, you can take the leaves off and crumble them into a jar or you can use a vacuum sealer to keep them fresh. For a cup of tea, bring a cup of water to a boil and remove from heat, add 1 tablespoon of the dried herb and steep for 5 minutes. It’ll be a satisfying, delicious cup of tea that you grew right in your back yard!