Tea

    Every year we would traipse out to the woods to where huge amounts of peppermint tea was growing beside the creek. We would gather pails full and take it back to the house, after it was washed and all the damaged leaves removed we would spread it out on muslin fabric we had spread on our guest room bed and floor. Once it was thoroughly dried we would put it in containers and store it in the pantry to be used until the next summer when fresh peppermint would grow.

  We would watch for mallow plants growing at the edge of the garden or sprouting up beside the house. The leaves and flowers were gathered and dried, and the little cheeses nibbled on immediately as a fun treat. During the winter months if someone had a bad cold we would make tea from it and then use the tea leaves as a poultice.

  The flowers from the Heal-all plants were gathered where they grew in patches in our yard. These were dried and used to make tea to treat sore throat.

  The worst tea we gathered was bone set tea. Always kept on hand in case someone were to break a bone and would need to drink the tea to aid the healing process. When I broke my ankle, one cup of that dreadful tasting brew was all I managed to to drink, before deciding to allow it to heal at what ever pace it wanted to.

  My grandmother knew what plants to gather and what they were good for, when we went to visit her there was always an assortment of teas in various stages of drying that had to be moved before we could go to bed. Everything from horsetail, stinging nettle, comfrey, and red raspberry leaves she gathered for health reasons, to the applemint, balsam, and peppermint she gathered to drink simply because she loved tea.

  I don't go searching for tea any longer, but this summer I might since the children have expressed an interest in doing so.