Tea Gardening for Beginners: Learn to Grow, Blend, and Brew Your Own Tea At Home

by Julia Dimakos

A gardening book that’s sure to be your cup of tea

What’s more satisfying than brewing the perfect cup of tea? Brewing it from tea you grew yourself! Create your own tea garden with help from this beginner’s guide. It walks you through every step of the process, from planning your garden plot to preparing delicious tea blends.

Know your teas—Become a true devotea as you explore different types of teas and tisanes, along with the best ways to blend and brew them.Build your garden—Learn how to choose the best location for your garden, the essential tools you should have on hand, and the proper techniques for pruning and harvesting.Dig into plant profiles—From lavender to lemongrass, read quick rundowns of 25 different plants, including their taste profiles, safety considerations, and preservation techniques.

Grow the skills you need to make your own tea blends for increased energy, relaxation, digestion, and just plain enjoyment with Tea Gardening for Beginners.

Genres: Gardening, Cooking, Tea, Food and Drink

174 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 24, 2022

Reviews

[Melissa Borsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am absolutely addicted to my tea so when I came across this book I was immediately intrigued. Is this something I could really do on my own? The answer is yes! Everything you need to know is right here in this book-designing and planning-knowing when to plant and when and how to harvest. So many different plants, including their taste profiles. I thank Netgalley and Callisto Media for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Sheronda H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love making teas using things I grow in my garden. This book was helpful.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Tea Gardening for Beginners is an interesting and well written tutorial guide for hobbyists who want to experiment with growing and blending teas at home. Due out 26th July 2022 from Callisto on their Rockridge Press imprint, it's 136 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. (Ebook available at time of review). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

The first chapters give a short overview and introduction to what tea *is* and how to grow different plants and plan for the special culture needs of tea plants, along with a little bit on hardiness zones and garden planning. The author, Julia Dimakos, is an experienced gardener and teacher with a experience in home gardening.

The majority of the book content covers individual plant profiles. They are arranged thematically by which part of the plant is used: leaves, flowers, fruits & seeds, and roots. The book also contains a number of recipes for different tea blends such as health & wellness, relaxation blends, energy, bedtime, and a few others. Recipe ingredients are given in a bullet list. Measurements are provided in imperial (American measurements only), followed by blending and preparation instructions. The instructions and plant profiles are easy to understand and follow and the illustrations are clear and easy to identify.

There are no photographs included, but the book is charmingly illustrated throughout in watercolor. The author/editors have included useful resource and links lists as well as a hyperlinked bibliography which will provide readers with lots of further information.

Four and a half stars. Very well written and up-to-date information.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Samantha Franciosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous Guide to Tea!

Absolutely fabulous and easy to follow as a beginner. The layout of the book is extremely user friendly, with a variety of recipes to try. :)

[Irene Jurna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vorig jaar heb ik geprobeerd om een thee-tuintje te maken. De bodem vruchtbaar maken lukte, maar veel van mijn theekruiden groeiden anders dan gedacht (groter, kleiner, woekeriger, met weinig bloemen).

Na het lezen van dit boek, denk ik dat onze tuin vermoedelijk te weinig zon heeft voor de meeste theeplanten. Julia Dimakos beschrijft bij veel planten dat ze de hele dag volop in de zon moeten staan om ervan te kunnen oogsten.

Maar met de tips uit dit boek ga ik volgend jaar verder. Deels door te proberen in eigen tuin te groeien; deels door gedroogde theemengsels te maken met de bloemen en kruiden uit de gemeenschappelijke oogsttuin.

- - -
P.s: ken je iemand die me kan helpen met een nieuwe tuininrichting in Amsterdam Nieuw-West? Ik hoor het graag.

[Sharon Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tea Gardening for Beginners: Learn to Grow, Blend, and Brew Your Own Tea At Home by Julia Dimakos is a gardening book for tea lovers. What’s more satisfying than brewing the perfect cup of tea? Brewing it from tea you grew yourself! Create your own tea garden with help from this beginner’s guide. It walks you through every step of the process, from planning your garden plot to preparing delicious tea blends. This book will help readers know understand the tea varieties, build a garden, discover and learn about plant profiles, and build up the skills to grow and make your own tea blends for your own preferences and needs.

Tea Gardening for Beginners is a detailed and informative read for anyone serious about growing their own tea ingredients. I have been growing gardens full of herbs and vegetables for as long as I can remember. I have thought about increasing the percentage of herbs and dabbling with growing tea for awhile, in fact this is the second book I have read on doing so that I have read, but I have yet to take the plunge. I think that growing your own tea takes a focus and dedication that I tend not to give my gardens. I am much more a 'plant this and see what happens' kind of gardener with a bit of gardening knowledge to make good initial choices thrown in. I am lucky enough to have parents very into gardening, enough so that me first 'job' was replanting seedlings in the family greenhouse as a kid. I learned a bit about some of the plants I grow, and those I want to grow. I think the idea of growing my own tea is more about the actual tea plant rather than the herbs that I would also use, as I am not in the correct zone to grow tea leaves without moving plants in and outside- which I lack the space and motivation for, to be honest. However, I think this book offers readers the information and tools they need to grow their own tea ingredients successfully, and to know whether they have the time and dedication to devote to doing it right for the best results. I can think of many people that could and would, I just need to admit that it is not me. Thankfully I can, and do, grow many of the fruits, herbs, and flowers included in the book and have some great inspiration for next year's planting and recipes and techniques I would like to try.

[Lastblossom]

Thanks to NetGalley and Rockridge Press for a review copy.

tl;dr
True to the title, a friendly entry-level book on growing, harvesting, and blending teas and tisanes. Plenty of easily searchable information, and illustrations are also very attractive.

Thoughts
What a useful guide! Hardcore tea aficionados know that true tea comes from the plant camellia sinensis and that all other plant brews are technically tisanes (insert joke about the champagne region here). But "grow your own tea" kits often feature plants that are not camellia sinensis, so I was expecting something similar here. Instead, I was excited to find that this book DOES cover growing camellia sinensis, along with a myriad of other plants that make excellent tisanes or blends. The book bills itself as being for beginners, and it absolutely is. Anyone who is new to growing will find a lot of useful starter information on caring for plants, when to water, and how to design growing spaces either outdoors or indoors. There's also a quick rundown of the differences in preparation and flavors of types of tea (white, green, black, oolong), and a very brief history of tea that unfortunately doesn't cover a lot of the juicier bits (but that's probably an entire book unto itself).

The bulk of the book, however, is a practical guide to various plants that one can grow to make tea and tisanes. Each plant is given a thorough rundown with tips on things like care, best regions to grow, flavor notes, and even health benefits. The charming illustrations also make the book fun just to page through. Recipes in the back also offer a great starting point for anyone unsure about making their own blends.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can see all my reviews here: Books Are The New Black

4.5 stars >

I just planted my first herb garden this summer. I intended to use them for cooking and for teas. We love to drink tea and I was so into the fact of making tea from my OWN garden!

This book popped up when I was browsing Netgalley and immediately requested it. This book is great! It has so much information about all the different kinds of herbs you would find in a typical garden. She was so knowledgeable about herbs, techniques to plant, harvest, and keep your herbs. Not only that how to use them in tea and some precautions if you are pregnant/breast-feeding. It’s a smaller book so it’s a smaller selection of herbs, compared to the vast amount available. It’s okay though because I think it’s perfect for a beginner!! I will be buying this book now to have on hand. The only downside is that there are no actual photos of the herbs but watercolor paintings. It’s beautiful but I kind of wish I had a more accurate photo!

If you are into tea or want to make your own, I highly suggest this one!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for an e-arc to review!

[Michelle Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw the title and cover for this, I was immediately interested. I love starting my plants inside in small containers and drinking tea. I used to buy tea all the time, but oftentimes, even with the higher end, organic brands I like, so often bagged tea tastes like it should be tasting so much better. So, why not grow your own. I’ve been plotting out my indoor Fate, I tell you.

This is a really, really in-depth basics book - does that make sense? And I don’t mean it at all to sound insulting; the author has done a fantastic job of condensing her knowledge into this treasure-trove of a how-to guide and the results are this terrific guide.

As the title proclaims, this is for beginners - and I absolutely recommend it.
This would be a wonderful family project to do with age 3, 3.5 and up children - they help plant, they tend their seedlings, they watch them grow, they help harvest, and enjoy some yummy kid-palate-friendly tea.


Available on Kindle Unlimited (as of 7/30/22)



eARC kindly provided by Rockridge Press / Callisto Media and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love teas and believe in their health benefits. When I saw this book, Tea Gardening for Beginners: Learn to Grow, Blend, and Brew Your Own Tea at Home, I decided I was interested in trying to grow and make my own teas.

This wonderfully easy-to-read, colorfully illustrated book starts with an explanation about what tea really is. It talks about how to grow and harvest the Camellia Sinensis leaves in order to produce the oolong, white, black, and green tea varieties. It also talks about the qualities of each tea and how to steep them correctly.

This book also explains that herbal teas are actually tisanes, and not teas at all. They are made from brewing roots, seeds, fruits, leaves, and flowers. It lists various methods of brewing tisanes.

This valuable book contains many recipes for blends of teas and tisanes.

This book truly has all you need to grow, make, and enjoy your own tisanes and teas! I highly recommend this book.

[Damiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent beginner gardening book for herbalists.

I have been struggling with a few of these plants and this book was so helpful. When I got to bee balm and she said to just buy the plant rather than start from seed I had to laugh as I have tried and failed for two years to germinate bee balm seeds. I'll take her advice.

Well explained, laid out, easy to navigate. The illustrations are lovely but don't take away from the content.
Not only a great book for gardening but also for herbalism and tea making.

The only note I have is to recommend a physical copy as there were a few issues of blank "pages" and scrolling through one line pages on the ecopy.

Highly recommend for beginners across the green thumb board.

[Leyla Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very informative little book, full of information on types of teas and tisanes.. It starts off with a section on what is tea and explains the variation of the tea made from the camellia sinensis and herbal teas made from leaves, flowers, fruit/seed and roots from various plants to grow in the garden. The book continues on with blending.hot/col brewing and infusions. The last part of the book explains which plants, how to grow them and getting them to harvest.
A really interesting book for anyone that like herbal tea, or like to grow plants in the garden.
Thanks you NetGalley and the publishers for the DRC

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely and informative book on everything tea! Julia provides detail instructions on everything you need to grow your own tea in a garden, raised bed, patio or even inside. This book offers great general gardening advice as well, covering pruning, fertilizing and pests. I can’t wait to try some of the tea blend recipes.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful and straight-to-the-point. Although this doesn’t provide deep information on specific herbal plants, it does give really great beginner information and an awesome starting place — which I believe is exactly what this book aimed to do in the first place. Overall, a treat to read. I learned quite a bit!

[Jaci Siehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best resource for developing a tea garden

Really like that she includes common plants and even weeds to use as part of my tea stash. She shares many growing requirements that are not always covered in traditional garden sites.

[(Mellifluous Grant) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an interesting read! The depth the author went into on origin and care and harvest was perfect for me. Can't wait to try.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really cool book for basic teas used. Also a cute book. Seems like a good starting point for gardening if you only want to do a little bit and certain things like these.

[Desi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So helpful advice and great recipes for health!

[Arika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tea Gardening For Beginners is a well organized and simple book to follow. I would recommend it to anyone who loves tea! I learned a lot just from reading it and look forward to growing and making my own tea in the future with the help of this book. This book starts out with a background on tea, how it is grown and the 4 different types: Black, Green, Oolong, and White. I did not know that all tea is traced back to the same plant, I found that to be very interesting. The author then gives advice on how to grow your plants and what it takes for your tea garden to be successful.

There is a large section of the book that describes different types of herbs and fruits that can be used to make delicious and healthy teas. Each plant is identified with a picture and describes its uses, flavor, planting information and preservation tips. This type of breakdown makes it easy to find what you're looking for when you know what kind of tea you are interested in making.

The final chapter of the book is a lovely grouping of tea blend recipes with information on each listing ingredients, variation options, boiling instructions and also any safety information.

Overall, this is a wonderful reference and guide for anyone who is interested in making their own tea, or even just learning about how tea is made.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-written book, but I only rated it 3 stars because of the title. It says it is for beginners and indeed, if you are an experienced gardener and you want to begin growing your own tea, you would be the target audience here, but NOT if you have NEVER gardened before.

For the real beginner, I think a little more detail was needed at the fundamentals of gardening. Other that that one criticism, it was great.

Because I listened to this audiobook, I looked into actually growing my own tea plants. Seems more expensive to do that than I want to invest, but if I was an avid tea drinker, I think I would give this a try.

I think I would read this book again if I had decided to grow my own tea bushes, but otherwise not.

[Polly Krize · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well written book for growing, blending and drinking your own teas. With the variety of herbs available, this book makes tea gardening something available for all. Lovely book!