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| Mint growing at my house |
This week, make your coffee or tea at home. Getting coffee/tea out every day not only costs a lot but also generates a lot of waste. Make it at home instead. And don't forget ... both coffee grounds and tea leaves are great in the compost bin.Or ...If you don't drink these beverages or always drink them at home, choose one other food or beverage, which you typically buy at either a restaurant or grocery store, and make it yourself at home. And, of course, we'd like to hear all about it!We already make coffee at home and compost the grounds (often by the simple shortcut of pouring onto our gardens. Grounds seem to discourage slugs and snails!) Before composting, sometimes I use the abrasive quality of the grounds for scrubbing out the compostable food bucker.
We also brew tea at home; loose leaves get composted and teabags themselves can act as little scrubbies before composting.
My favorite drink to make at home is some variation on mint tea. Since we planted mint last year, it has flourished and spread, even as I take some about each week either as a refreshing snack or to brew as tea. While there are hundreds of delightful commercially produced teas, there is not quite like something brewed at home from leaves you grow yourself!
6 comments:
Mmm ... mint tea. Do you actually steep the mint leaves? It sounds refreshing. Thanks for the tip on coffee/tea grounds and slugs ... I'm going to give that a try!
Oh yes, we definitely steep the leaves to make tea. I give them a quick rinse (in case of bird poo) and then tear them a little to encourage the expression of minty goodness (or maybe because the smell they release).
It takes more leaves than I'd thought at first to make a pot - maybe the commercial process of drying them also concentrates them?? - but the result is always good. And you can't get much more local that our own yard!
The used leaves go back on the compost pile to complete the cycle. This drink is made of win!
Oooh, yum! I'd love to find more ways to use my mint. Okay, so how much mint would you say you used, and how much water? And how long did you steep? I want to try this, this weekend!
Oh, and I hear Sage tea is nice too!
@Nicki - I don't really have a system. I find that with fresh leaves, you need a LOT - so I stuff the pot half-full of leaves - I tear them up first which seems to release the flavor better. Then I "steep till done" maybe five minutes.
Your mileage may vary but as long as you don't need every cup to taste the same, it can be fun to enjoy the variety!
I'll have to try the sage tea - it smells like a nice addition!
Thanks so much! I'm so excited to try. When you said a lot, you meant A LOT. This will make great use of my abundant mint!
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