[milan]

hi everyone

new here 

hubby and i have just created a veggie patch in our garden so plan to start growing and eating this year - very excited!

while buying all our seeds i saw some camomile and curiosity got the better of me so i bought some (i quite often drink the tea so wanted to see what the plant is like!)

assuming it grows (!) how do i use it to make camomile tea? do i have to dry the leaves, flowers etc are there any bits i cant eat? just wondered...

thanks 

[horsepooisgood]

Hi milan anw welcome to the forums.

i haven't a clue about the camomile but I'm sure someone will be along soon that does

[poultrygeist]

Welcome milan

We once looked into having a chamomile area in the lawn but I can't remember what you have to do for tea.
Once established, it is fairly robust and a lot more interesting than grass. but I would think you'd need quite a large area for culinary use.

Rob

[mumofstig]

Found this........

Once you find a patch of chamomile, pick the flowers. They're small, but you shouldn't have much problem getting a handful or two.
At home, fill a pot or pan with water and set it on the stove to boil. Rinse off the chamomile flowers with cool water. When the water gets hot, throw in some of the chamomile flowers to steep. About two or three teaspoons of the flower for every cup of water is a good balance. The flowers can be either fresh or dried; it makes no difference.
Let the water boil and the flowers steep for a few minutes, then pour the liquid into a cup. If you get any flower petals in your cup, it's not a big concern unless you don't like the texture of them. In which case, I recommend pouring the liquid through a strainer of some kind to sift out any petals.

Ad sugar or honey, according to which you like best in tea, let cool a little bit, and then drink and enjoy.

[Trillium]

Here's a good link to chamomile info. It's the flowers that are dried for tea.

http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/grow-your-own-tea/index.html

[milan]

wonderful thanks everyone :-)

wonder what it tastes like! time will tell..... if the herb grows! i dont have a great track record with herbs!

[Stripey_cat]

There are two common plants called chamomile: annual chamomile (German chamomile, Matricaria recutita) is the one you dry the flowers for for tea, with a whole raft of medicinal properties; perennial chamomile (Roman chamomile, Anthemis nobilis) is the one for chamomile lawns, aromatherapy, and some cosmetics.  Both are useful; which have you got?

[milan]

im at work at the second, i have a hunch its the german one but ill double check when i get home :-)

[milan]

ive got the german variety

so what do i need to do? pick the flowers off and dry them?

or is it possible to just rinse them then boil them up fresh?

 

[Stripey_cat]

You can make tea with the fresh flowers (you need more that you think because they shrink a lot as they dry) - just shove a handful in a jug.  I'd suggest you don't use a teapot, or you'll be cleaning bits out of the spout forever!  To dry, you cut the flowers with as little stem as possible.  I put them to dry on cake cooling racks to allow airflow all around.

[mumofstig]

As the recipe said you can use fresh flowers just rinse them

[milan]

fab thanks everyone :-)

ill let you know how it grows, ill plant the seeds up inside soon

(never grown any veg before really other than the odd few chives so this is all very new!)

[sunshineband]

It tastes just delicious, and kind of slightly musty b ut sweet apply kind of smell, with a taste best described as 'yellow' and it is yellow too. it is supposed to send you off to a reaxed nigth sleep but I think that is an exaggeration -- I can't say I've noticed falling asleep after drinking it! Good though.

[Bombers]

It tastes just delicious, and kind of slightly musty b ut sweet apply kind of smell, with a taste best described as 'yellow' and it is yellow too. it is supposed to send you off to a reaxed nigth sleep but I think that is an exaggeration -- I can't say I've noticed falling asleep after drinking it! Good though.

A bit like Lager then really! 

[sunshineband]

without the gassy effect