Dried Garden Tea Blend

From the garden

• 4 bunchs tea herbs (mint, lemon balm, German or Roman chamomile flowers, anise hyssop, or any tea-patch herb), rinsed and dried very well · whatever the tea patch offers; a stevia sprig dries into a natural sweetener for the blend

1. Harvest mid-morning after the dew burns off, just before the plants flower when the leaves are most aromatic (chamomile is the exception; pick the open flower heads themselves). Rinse briefly and dry completely; damp herbs mold instead of drying.
2. Dry each herb separately: tie leafy stems into small, loose bundles and hang upside down in a warm, airy spot out of direct sun for 1–2 weeks, or lay leaves and flower heads in a single layer on dehydrator trays at 95–115°F for 2–4 hours until crackling dry.
3. Test before jarring: a properly dry leaf shatters rather than bends, and chamomile centers should be hard right through. Anything leathery gets another hour; one underdried batch can spoil a whole jar.
4. Strip the leaves whole from their stems and store each herb in its own labeled airtight jar. Keeping them separate is the trick: the blend happens at the teapot, not in storage, so every cup can be different.
5. To blend, start with 2 parts of a friendly base (mint or lemon balm), 1 part of an accent (chamomile, anise hyssop, or lemon verbena), and a tiny pinch of stevia leaf if you like it sweeter, then adjust to taste. Use a heaping tablespoon per mug and steep in just-boiled water about 5 minutes. Traditional leaves like yaupon or wintergreen belong in normal culinary pinches, as flavor.