Planting Tea plants with mom

Over a cup of late night tea, my mom and I got inspired. She said “Camellias grow great in the yard!”

A conversation that started with finding a local tea farm, ended with the conclusion that we should plant a tea plant, or two (camellia sinsensis).

This is how it started :)

We have no idea what we’re doing. Do tea plants grow in Seattle? Never heard of it. And if they do grow, they probably won’t taste good.

But that’s not stopping us. We are a curious duo when it comes to the garden, and my Mom has a knack for growing Camellias with flowers (not for tea) in her yard. How different can the tea plant, Camellia Sinensis, be from these varieties? We shall see.

After a quick Google and phone call, we got confirmation that Swanson’s Nursery in Ballard (highly recommend this garden shop), had Camellia Sinensis in stock! And suited to grow in the Seattle climate too!

We planted two plants in total, and it only took about 30 minutes. Here were the steps:

• Dig a hole 1-2 feet deep

• Clean off the dirt and free the roots from the potted tea plant

• Place it in the whole

• Fill it in with a mix of dirt and compost

• Give them a nice 3-5 minute soak with the hose (they were very dry when we got them)

• Top off with a nice dose of mulch (for extra heat? it was my Mom’s idea)

We planted them on February 10th, and the overnight low was 22 degrees Farenheit. BRRRRRR. So we added cardboard and foam over the mulch at night to insulate them (not pictured).

Below is the final picture of the tea plant from a little further back so you can see how tiny it is. I haven’t been home in a month, but I’ve heard reports that the plants are growing and thriving in their new home.

Now on to researching the next challenge!! How to harvest from the plants and turn it into tea that doesn’t suck! Onwards!! :)