Gael Glen Farm & Tea House?

I am fairly obsessed with tea.  I am also fairly obsessed with growing my own food.  This might explain why the idea that I can grow my own tea makes me very excited.

Raspberry leaves, elderberries, chokecherries and black currants in the dehydrator.

I did not grow a tea garden specifically, but after a bit of research, it turns out that I already grow many things that can be steeped to make tea.  This year is going to be a bit of an experiment.  I am going to dry a little bit of a bunch of things to see what I actually like the taste of when made into tea.  Then, next year, I will know what to grow more and keep more of.

On my farm to do list was pruning back both my raspberry canes and strawberry plants in an effort to maximize next year's yield.  I have never tried raspberry leaf nor strawberry leaf tea, both which are apparently a thing.  I picked select leaves post-pruning and am currently drying them.

Pruning my raspberry patch.  This was done while Alistair was swinging which required me to take a break every minute and a half to give him a push.  This set up worked for a solid half hour - just long enough for me to cut the canes but not long enough to clean them up afterwards!

Seamus helping me clip off strawberry leaves. 
I am going to miss my best helper when he starts school on Friday!

Strawberry leaves ready for the dehydrator.

It is also elderberry time of year.  We have made these berries into jam and elderberry syrup in the past but we still have lots of that left so I am going to try using this year's elderberries for tea.

The elderberry patch on August 5th.  Not ready.

Elderberries on August 26th.  Ready!

I am also drying out the last of the chokecherries and black currants.

Chokecherries on August 5th.  Not ripe.

Chokecherries on August 12th. Ripe!

Black currants.

I have peppermint, chocolate mint, and apple mint already dried, so the mint teas are covered.

Peppermint bunch.

I think this is a reasonable start to my informal tea house.  I wonder which, if any of the above, will be delicious?  Any suggestions for flavour combinations? 

I am currently growing pineapple sage.  Does that sound good or gross for tea?  I am undecided.  I am also planning on drying my rosehips but they should be bright red before harvesting, so mine are not ready yet.

I have yet to perfect my tea biscuits, but in the mean time I might substitute in my roasted walnut and cranberry bread.  It was my first attempt at incorporating these particular add ins to my bread and it turned out to be divine.

Now, if I could just get my pond garden cleaned up, I could call it a "tea garden" and finally have a relaxing outdoor place to enjoy a good cuppa! A farm girl can dream, right?