Grow Your Own Tea

May 1, 2020
Tea enthusiasts and growers Parks and Walcott have developed the guide of guides to the cultivation of tea, in homage to the world's second most popular beverage and their own work. A drink that's five thousand years old, tea is traced from its Indian and Chinese roots throughout North America, the British Isles, and some South American locales. After mapping tea's history and geography, the authors explain in intricate detail how to grow the plant. Climate is critical; after all, there are good reasons that few tea plantations exist in U.S. states other than South Carolina, Washington, and Oregon. For individual horticulturalists, the content excels; diagrams of pruning, photographs of baby and mature plants, and charts with comparisons and easy-to-understand details enable those raising tea in pots and other hobby growers to succeed. Nearly ten recipes round out the "everything is tea" concept, from tea-boiled eggs to camellia-poached chicken (tea belongs to the camellia family). A bit of education makes for a great tea consumer and, possibly, grower.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)