Spring Garden Gallery

Here's a little peek at what's been going on around our yard these last few days!

I scored this massive pile of bricks from my neighbor. 

So much of my time has been devoted to the ancient art of "brick schlepping!"

 

Building a yellow brick road,

reinforcing this raised bed,

and thinking about putting a brick patio right here.

(That log back by the fence is my shiitake mushroom log. I'll let you know if it ever fruits.)

The front yard is looking pretty good, though it could stand some more weeding. Chives, kiwi, rosemary, mint, wintergreen, salal and many other plants are doing well here. Our little pear tree (in the middle, surrounded by fava beans) is a year old now and will be flowering soon!

Speaking of flowering fruit trees, our apple tree and 

our two cherry trees are currently producing tons of lovely buds.

Here's a pic of my daughter in one of her favorite places.
Hanging out (literally) under a cherry tree.


Also in the front yard we just planted carrots, beets and potatoes.


I currently have three tea plants. This one appears to be happy and healthy

and it has quite a few pretty new buds.


My other two tea plants look like this!
Any advice on how I can make them happy again would be greatly appreciated.

Hope you enjoyed my Spring garden gallery. Feel free to leave links to your own in the comments. I'd love to see your garden!

Flowering Tea Plant

This photo shows the healthiest of my three backyard tea plants. It is currently flowering. You can see two pretty little tea flowers and five or six more blossoms soon to open up.

South Seattle Tea Estate - 2012 Harvest Report

As the manager of the South Seattle Tea Estate, I am saddened to inform you that 5-year-old "Leafer," our oldest tea plant, died over the winter. The 3 remaining plants looked scrubby and beaten at the start of spring. For this reason I decided not to make spring 2012 tea.

Summer has been good to our 3 tea plants and they are now, for the most part, looking healthy and producing new leaves.

On July 15, 2012, I decided to make an experimental summer oolong. The harvest took place at 9:00 am. Due to a dearth of tender leaf and bud sets I decided to pluck more mature, lower leaves. In all, I selected 28 leaves for a total of 15 grams. The leaves were arranged in a single layer in a glass baking dish for withering.

After about an hour and a half of withering in the shade the sun broke through the clouds. At this point I moved the dish to the roof of my car for some full-sun withering. The day became quite warm with a nice gentle breeze.

2:00 pm - The leaves were a little bit limp but some bits were too crispy for my liking. Also, some leaves appeared to be getting a "sun burn" so I decided to bring it inside.

3:15 pm - I spent 3 minutes shaking and kneading the leaves.

8:00 pm - I spent another 3 minutes kneading, twisting, shaking and bruising the leaves. I felt like the leaves were getting too dry and brittle so I mounded them up together and covered them with an upside down bowl.

The following morning (today) at 6:30 am - I checked the tea. It had a sweet tobacco-like aroma and a mottled brown and green coloring like camouflage. After ~3 minutes more rolling and kneading. I mounded up and recovered the limp leaves with the same bowl.

9:00 am - I did even more kneading and rolling and then took this photo after which the leaves were then left uncovered.

11:00 am - I baked the leaves for 30 minutes at 250° F in a cast-iron pan. The leaves were mainly in a single layer. I gave them a gentle stir about halfway through baking. The next picture is of my finished tea. It weighed about 5 grams.

I fired up the kettle and placed half of my total harvest into a small gaiwan. My first steep was boiling water for 3 minutes. The color was a lovely golden yellow and the liquor had a sweet smell with notes of raw pumpkin, cooked yam and unlit cigars.

I was trying to make a darker tea, but I was still pleased with the outcome of this experiment. The tea lacked for mouth-feel but it surprised me with complexity. The raw pumpkin aroma stuck with it through 3 infusions but the taste kept changing. It was always brighter and fruitier than I was expecting. I even picked up some guava and nectarine notes as well as a syrupy sweetness.

I'm glad I have enough leaf left over for one more session. I plan to bring it to Phoenix Tea this weekend to share with other tea lovers.

Urban Herbs #6 - Plantain

It's been too long since I steeped anything in my yard as part of my Urban Herbs series, and for some reason plantain keeps popping up on my radar lately as a healthy herbal tea to try. I first heard about infusing plantain leaves from a post on my friend Nicole's wonderful blog and since then I've seen a few other references to steeping this wild green. Today I went outside to forage some plantain to taste for the very first time.

Like most plants there are many different varieties of plantain but it's quite easy to find this type, plantago major, competing with the grass, moss and clover that makes up a typical Seattle lawn.

My Backyard Plantain:

Most of the references I've seen online for preparing plantain tea call for dried, chopped leaves. Instead, I chose to take ten fresh leaves, muddle them in a glass measuring cup, and then steep them for ten minutes with boiling water.

The Ten Leaves:

The Steeping:

The resulting liquor was a pale, watery, greenish-yellow color. It smelled like a green banana and edamame. The flavor was mild, grassy, and a tiny bit floral. It was astringent like a persimmon though not nearly as intense. Still, I could feel a "fuzzy buzzy" sensation on my lips and tongue. Not too bad... I'd call this experiment a success but next time I'll try drying and chopping the leaves before I brew them.

Daddy-Daughter Tea Picnic

These last few days the weather here in Seattle has been amazing. Today, during my son's nap time, my daughter C and I went outside for a little tea picnic under the cherry trees. We spent a glorious, barefoot hour sipping Bai Mu Dan (白牡丹) and nibbling raisins and muffins. A gentle breeze stirred the wind-chime, while occasional blizzards of white cherry petals fell from above.

Bug's eye view.

C sips her tea.

Checking on the Tea Plants.

They appear to be happy.

Apple tree is in full bloom.

Cherry blossom snow.

Urban Herbs #4 - Blackberry Leaf

My Urban Herbs series is monthly chronicle of my continued quest to taste an infusion of every nontoxic plant I can find growing around my house. In this month's installment I've selected blackberry leaves.

These leaves were picked from a particularly wild corner of my backyard. I took care to select smaller, more tender leaves and not to poke myself on the wicked thorns. It is very important with all urban foraging to be sure you're harvesting in areas without any pollution. Lucky for me, Seattle is filled with such places.

Blackberry bushes can be found all over the northwest and in the late summer I certainly eat my fair share of their ripe sweet berries. I've never tried infusing blackberry leaves before but I've recently learned that many people do, and that certain medicinal effects are attributed to the beverage. Some sources suggest the infusion is a good source of vitamins C and E, good for fighting colds and flu and for relieving sore throats.

I chopped up eleven fresh leaves of varying size and steeped them for 10 minutes in ~6 ounce of boiling hot water.

The resulting brew was light yellow and had a delicate grassy, citrus aroma. The flavor of the infusion was similar. It yielded wild weed and grass-like notes with soft peaks of citrus peel and tart blackberry flavors. It was a little tannic but not unpleasant. I think if I were to drink this herb again I would try picking more leaves, drying them, crumbling them up and make it a bit stronger.

Urban Herbs #3 - Lemon Balm

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is all over the place here in Seattle and we can always find a few of these shrubs growing around our yard. My kids like to nibble the leaves. I'll sometimes nibble them too, but more often I'll just pick a few, rub them between my fingers and smell their nice lemony aroma. Until today I've never tried drinking a plain infusion of lemon balm (though I'm sure I have had them before in blended herbal beverages).

Lemon balm tea is considered a healthy infusion for colds and flu as well as a calming and soothing beverage. It makes a nice addition to aromatic and medicinal herb gardens and has the added benefit of attracting beneficial bees who help to pollinate nearby plants.

I picked ~10 fresh tender leaves and minced them up with a knife. I steeped them for 5 minutes using 5 ounces of boiling hot water. The resulting infusion had a pleasant grass and citrus aroma and a pale watery yellow-green color.

In my opinion it tastes great. Like most herbal infusions, lemon balm is probably hard to over steep. Next time I going to use more leaf and a longer steep time. The flavor was not at all bitter and was too weak to be perceived as tart. I was reminded of lemon juice, lemon peel, rose hips and meadow flowers. It left with a nice aftertaste and feeling in my throat. I can easily see myself drinking this infusion often throughout the winter and sharing it with my two young children.

Urban Herb #2 - Fennel Seed

All over the garden plants are going to seed. One of them happens to be this large, healthy fennel plant by my front door.

The Plant.

The Seeds.

I've always liked fennel seeds but I never thought about drinking them. In fact I used to wonder why, back when I worked at Teacup, random people would occasionally ask me if we sold "fennel seed tea." We didn't, so I would redirect them to a health food store or other local apothecary.

I did a little research and found out that fennel seed is considered a "carminative," which according to wikipedia is "a herb or preparation that either prevents formation of gas in the gastrointestinal tract or facilitates the expulsion of said gas, thereby combating flatulence." (As an adult-vegan-male I found this tidbit particularly interesting.)

Because of all this I've decided to feature fennel seed tea as this month's "Urban Herb."

I picked off a few umbels of fresh young seeds and put them in a small gaiwan. I bruised them slightly with my fingers and then poured in boiling water. I let them steep for five minutes.

Seconds before the steep.

The resulting herbal infusion was a light pale yellow color with an intense fennel aroma. I sipped it and found it to be quite pleasant. It was surprisingly mellow in my mouth, I might even say that it was a little bit too weak for me. It had a licorice-like sweetness and vibrant mouth-feel. It was very one dimensional but I'd say if you're into this particular flavor you'd probably really enjoy it.

... and as for the infusion's carminative effect? Let's just say I haven't farted in a week and I'm now beginning to worry!

Ha... just kidding... I'm really not sure if it did anything at all.

Urban Herb #1 - Wild Chamomile

This is the alley behind my house.

It is filled with many urban herbs. One of which is wild chamomile (aka pineappleweed).

As it turns out this useful and tasty plant can be found all over Washington, especially in sandy soil near trails and paths. I've gotten into the habit of picking a little flower and crushing it between my fingers because it really smells amazing.

Wikipedia says: "The young flower heads can be used to make tea by steeping a handful of the flowers in hot water for ten minutes and then straining."
OK. I can try that.

I used about one teaspoon of flowers in a half full gaiwan with boiling water. After a ten minute infusion the liquor is a pale yellowish-green color.

The smell is lovely in my opinion. It's like the freshest chamomile aroma I've ever smelled with a twist of ripe pineapple juice. The flavor is sweet, soothing and floral like any great chamomile flower infusion would be.

If you dig chamomile tea then you would probably like this.

It's very relaxing.

[Yawn]

I am starting to feel pretty sleepy.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Garden Tea Party

Last Sunday, on a lovely summer afternoon here in Seattle, my wife and I hosted 12 friends to an afternoon of fine tea and light snacks in our garden.

On the tea menu was: Spring 2011 Alishan Zhang Shu Hu, Spring 2011 Wenshan Baozhong, Summer 2010 Formosa Bonita hongcha, 1999 Baked Tie Guanyin and a wee nip of Communitea Kombucha.

The all-vegan-nibbles included: cherry almond tart, fresh baked sourdough bread, hummus, strawberry jam, cherry-vanilla jam, and coconut date balls (all homemade by my brilliant wife).

Garden Tour Spring 2011

Our house is a very very very fine house...
with two raised beds in the yard...


...and two kids too!


Here's our newest garden (still under construction).
It's home to the blueberries and the tea.

Welcome to Potatoville.

Here is our back deck, apple tree and two Rainier cherry trees.


And this is the new strawberry patch!


How about a little peek under our umbrella-shaped birch tree...

...where you'll find a little stump table and a fiery red rhododendron in bloom.

On the left we have peas, nasturtiums, cilantro and green beans.
On the right we have lettuce, kale, beets, onions and carrots.

Yum Yum.

The sun is shining and the lilacs are blooming.
Spring is officially here.

And let's not forget my two tea plants.
They had a pretty rough winter and I don't plan to make any tea this season.
I'm sure they'll be fine...

... and here is my proof!