Tea for Plants and People

It’s spring, so of course, our thoughts turn to all things green as the earth rebounds back to life. We’ve noticed that tea lovers are often also plant lovers, and while tea fans certainly don’t own the plant-loving franchise, we feel pretty confident in saying that plant lovers dig tea!

Whether you’re into Plant Parenthood (a real term for caring for houseplants where the plants are like your kiddos or “leaf babies”) or are an avid outdoor gardener, or both, caring for your plants can involve tea in a couple of ways.

Compost Tea

No, this isn’t a new Harney blend! Compost tea is a nutrient you can make at home to feed your plants – it’s like wellness teas for plants!

Because we’re people-tea experts and not plant-tea experts, we won’t take a deep dive into compost tea. Instead, we’ll give you the basics! There are two types of compost tea:

1. Straight up compost tea, which is simply a concoction of non-chlorinated water, high-quality compost or worm castings, food for the bacteria to help it grow, a bucket and about 24-36 hours for it to brew. If compost tea has a people-tea cousin, that would be kombucha…except you can drink kombucha and you can’t drink compost tea! But the idea of fermentation is similar, allowing the good bacteria to grow so your plants get some powerful nutrients.
2. Aerated compost tea is made with the same basic ingredients, but it incorporates oxygen and agitation. Rather than just letting the compost sit and do its thing, like your dad in a recliner at Thanksgiving, aerated compost tea requires an air pump like the ones used in fish tanks to create some bubble action. The idea behind this is that getting more oxygen into the compost produces more good organisms faster and keeps the bad ones at bay.

There are fans of both methods, so picking one is truly up to each individual. In the end, however, instead of purchasing chemical fertilizer for your plants, you have an all-natural fertilizer that you can use to spray on the leaves of your plants or pour it into the pot or ground to feed the roots. Just don’t confuse it with your pitcher of iced tea!

People Tea

To help get you in the mood for spring plant care, here are some suggestions for great springtime teas to sip as you plan your garden or sing to your houseplants. The options are plant-tea-ful!

Spring Bloom Trio. Not one but three delicious flavors to inspire and delight: Cherry Blossom, Rose Scented and Very Berry Matcha.

Jane’s Garden Tea. A lovely green tea with pomegranate and roses, blended in honor of lifelong friend and gardener Jane Lloyd to show support during her battle with breast cancer. A portion of the proceeds of sales of this tea go to the Jane Lloyd Fund and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Garden Therapy Herbal Tea. One of the teas in our Met Collection, this blend of chamomile, lavender, lemon and verbena comes in a beautiful Monet landscape tin.

Chamomile. Customers love this herbal tea with its delightful chamomile buds. It’s truly springtime in a cup.

French Super Blue Lavender. If you love lavender, this tea is a must. The lavender flowers provide an intense aroma and taste reminiscent of the French Riviera.

Yellow & Blue. So, if you take the two previous teas and add cornflowers, you have Yellow & Blue! Right now, in a nod to the blue & yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag, proceeds from this tea are being donated to the International Rescue Committee in support of the Ukrainian people.

Indigo Punch. If the beautiful blue hue of this tea doesn’t captivate you, the flavors will! Hibiscus, butterfly pea flower, lemongrass, lemon peel, rosehips, apple pieces, raspberry flavor and honey flavor make for a lovely experience.

Valentine’s Day. If you love chocolate and roses, then every day is Valentine’s Day, right? We blended black tea with rose petals along with chocolate and vanilla flavors for a cuppa you’re sure to fall in love with. Bonus: the spring tin design!

Mother’s Day. Another beautiful floral tin design houses a blend of rose petals, chamomile flowers, cornflowers, orange peel and orange flavor. Steep a pot to share with Mom or just to celebrate Mother Nature!

Royal Wedding. Ah, spring weddings! This tea is so chock full of flowers, it could easily be thrown by the flower girl as she walks down the aisle! White tea, rose petals, blue cornflowers, marigold petals, almond, vanilla and coconut flavors. 

Chaga Wonder. This wellness tea is packed with earth’s bounty: hemp flowers and leaves, chaga mushrooms, ashwagandha root, chamomile, lemon balm, spearmint, lavender and coconut pieces.

Organic Tune Up. This organic brew combines flavors of tropical hibiscus, rosehips, apple and powerful echinacea for an energetic, antioxidant-filled base. Add vitamin-rich lemon peel and soothing ginger root along with cooling eucalyptus, peppermint and a bit of clove for a spring rejuvenation!

When you’ve finished drinking your tea, you can also use your people-tea leaves in your compost. Like coffee grounds, tea leaves can be high in nitrogen, magnesium, copper and potassium, and also add a level of acid to your soil. While our paper tea bags are home-compostable, some of our sachets are not quite there yet (we’re working toward that!). So when you’re done with your sachets, just cut them open and dump out the tea leaves so the earth can enjoy a good cuppa too!