VOA健康报道2024--Grow Your Own Tea Plants Year-round

People who grow their own food are familiar with planting tomatoes, peppers, squash, herbs, berries and other common fruits and vegetables.

However, they may not think of growing plants for drinks.

Gardening expert Jessica Damiano recently wrote about plants you can grow to make tea. Damiano, who writes for the Associated Press, says that growing your own tea plants in the garden can provide enough leaves and flower buds to keep your tea pot filled year-round.

And the plant to grow, she says, is camellia sinensis (var. sinensis), also known as the "tea plant."

These evergreen¹ plants are easy to grow in any amount of sunlight, from deep shade to full sun. However, ideal growing conditions are part sun to light shade. They require well-draining soil with a slightly acidic pH.

Young plants will take about two years to produce enough leaves for tea. In five years, one plant should provide enough for an average tea drinker. If you need more tea, Damiano says to plant more camellia sinensis.

Camellia sinensis is called the "tea plant" because white, green, black, and oolong teas all come from this plant. Their differences come from harvesting practices and after-harvest treatments.

For white tea, pick the flower buds before they fully² open. Heat the buds in a pan over low heat, moving them often for about 10 minutes. Cool them and store in an airtight container.

For green, black and oolong tea, pick two or three of the youngest leaves from each stem, along with the leaf bud from each stem tip. Do this every 10 to 12 days as new growth develops.

Preparing green, oolong, or black tea all have different processes.

Green tea

For making green tea, briefly³ steam leaves over boiling water. Then put the leaves on a clean towel and let them sit for five minutes. Roll up the leaves in the towel gently to remove extra water. Remove the leaves from the towel, separate them, and place them on a baking sheet. Heat in an oven or toaster oven set to 148 degrees Celsius⁴ (300 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10 to 15 minutes or until the leaves are completely dry. Brew⁵ immediately or cool and keep them in an airtight container for future use.

Oolong tea

For making oolong tea, put the leaves in one layer on a baking tray. Put the tray in a sunny outdoor spot to let the leaves wilt⁶. After 30 to 60 minutes, move the tray into the shade and move the leaves every hour for 8 to 10 hours. Next, place the leaves in a wide pan and cook them over low heat for 15 minutes, moving gently as needed to prevent burning. Let the leaves cool. And roll each leaf individually to keep its oils and flavors. They should be completely dry before storing in an airtight container.

Black tea

To make black tea, place leaves on a baking sheet in the sun for 10 to 12 hours to remove only 50 to 75 percent of the water. Then, cut the leaves into long pieces and roll into small balls. Place the balls in a warm room between 25 and 26 degrees Celsius (78 to 80 degrees F) that is not too dry of a room until they turn reddish-black. Then, dry them in an oven at 93 degrees Celsius (200 degrees F) for 5 minutes. Lower heat to 60 degrees C (140 degrees F) and continue drying for an additional hour. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Native to China, camellia sinensis var. sinensis is cold-hardy. That means it can survive in cold weather. However, it may need some protection to survive cold winters.

The same is true for another variety of this flower, camelia sinensis var. assamica. Native to India, this kind is more like a tree.

You will have to research which kinds of camellia sinensis can grow in your area.

On its website, the International Camellia Society gives you suggestions for how to protect these plants during a cold weather.

Mulching: Apply a thick layer of mulch around the base to protect the roots.

Covering: Use a cloth to cover the plant during extreme cold.

Watering: Water the plant well before the first freeze.

Location: Plant your camellia in a sheltered spot, such as near a building, to protect it from cold winds.

Pruning⁷: Avoid pruning late in the season. New growth may not survive colder weather.

Words in This Story

garden - v. to grow herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables

bud - n. a small growth at the tip or on the side of a plant stem that later develops into a flower, leaf, or new shoot

evergreen - adj. having foliage⁸ that remains⁹ green and functional¹⁰ through more than one growing season

shade - n. space sheltered from the heat and bright light of the sun

acidic - adj. Acidic soil tends to have mineral deficiencies that can affect plant growth. By definition, acidity¹¹ is the characteristic of soil that has a pH level of less than 6.5 (a reading of 5.5 means the soil is very acidic).

steam - v. the invisible vapor¹² into which water is changed when heated to the boiling point

brew - v. to prepare (as tea) by soaking in hot water

wilt - v. to lose or cause to lose freshness and become limp

oven - n. a chamber¹³ used for baking, heating, or drying

prune¹⁴ - v. to cut off or cut back parts of for better shape or more fruitful growth

1 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

4 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

5 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。

6 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

7 pruning   

n.修枝，剪枝，修剪v.修剪（树木等）( prune的现在分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• In writing an essay one must do a lot of pruning. 写文章要下一番剪裁的工夫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A sapling needs pruning, a child discipline. 小树要砍，小孩要管。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

11 acidity   

n.酸度，酸性

参考例句：

• This plant prefers alkaline soil,though it will readily tolerate some acidity.这种植物在酸性土壤中也能生存，但硷性土壤更加适宜。
• Gastric acidity would not prevent the organism from passing into the gut.胃的酸度不能防止细菌进入肠道。

12 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

13 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

14 prune   

n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除

参考例句：

• Will you prune away the unnecessary adjectives in the passage?把这段文字中不必要的形容词删去好吗？
• It is our job to prune the side branches of these trees.我们的工作就是修剪这些树的侧枝。