I’ve lost count of how many years I’ve grown the herb lemon balm. I use it mainly for tea. The butterflies and bees love it for the delicious nectar in its tiny white flowers. I have near two dozen plants growing in several gardens surrounding my home. Why do I grow so many? Well they self-seed, make excellent tea, are linked to longevity, will grow where other plants would succumb to bad conditions, new sprouts are easily transplanted to a new location, and most important, I find the plants pretty.
The batch above is growing strong around my Square Foot Garden boundaries. In some areas it has inter-mingled with spearmint that has also run rampant and multiplied from one plant.
These two herbs, steeped in just-boiled water make a lovely, invigorating, yet calming tea. If you find these plants in a garden nursery and have room to grow them, give them a try.
MINDING MY P'S WITH Q 
Reblogged this on Travels with Mary and commented:
Incredible
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Thanks!
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You are very welcome!
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We have spearmint and something lemony. The previous owner said it was lemon mint. I should try the combo for tea.
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I think lemon balm is sometimes called lemon mint. Let me know what you think when you try it.
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That is a GREAT post.
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Thanks!
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Thanks for this…..
Can you tell me if you dry the leaves to steep them for tea, or can you just take them off the plant fresh and steep them in boiling water for tea?
vicki
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I’ve done both ways. When dried, the color darkens up a bit, so I prefer the fresh when they are available. Another good choice for storing leaves for winter use is to freeze the herbs in water in ice cube trays. If you have the freezer room, a big ziplock bag or two full of lemon balm/spearmint cubes, makes a tea that tastes and looks like you just picked it from the garden. I let them thaw first before I use them, but in a pinch, I have been known to throw the ice cube right in the boiling water.
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I’m already learning so much from your blog. I had never even considered growing my own tea before (seriously!) but that may have to be my next endeavor.
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I’ve been drinking a lot of lemon balm tea. Life is full of stress and lemon balm is calming and also boosts immunity. I also love spearmint and often combine them. My garden is full of good tea choices…I’ve yet to try catmint…I’m afraid my cats would go crazy and think I was one of their cat-toys.
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I’m a huge mint fan as well! I once visited the Celestial Seasonings tea factory, and they literally kept all of their mint leaves separate from the other herbs because the smell was so potent it would taint everything else. I found that pretty funny 🙂
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That would be an interesting factory to visit. Where is it located?
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It was in Boulder, CO, USA when I visited about 8 years ago. I assume it’s still there. They had a great collection of Celestial Seasonings’ tea box art work over time as well as many many samples 🙂
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I wish it was nearer NJ then I might be able to go there. We usually go south, rather than west, for our vacations.
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That’s a good direction 🙂 I love Florida. One of the positives to living in KS is definitely being in the middle of the US, so I’m equally far from the coasts/sightseeing, which makes it reasonable to go in every direction haha .
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Sounds good, we go really south…more like Jamaica. I love going there…it is so beautiful.
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I can’t imagine. I don’t have any experience outside of the US yet, but I’ve heard wonderful things about Jamaica. I’ve been told it’s very relaxed and just a completely different flow of life than that of the US.
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I enjoy the people and the brilliant colors most of the houses are painted. The water is gorgeous…the atmosphere, fun and relaxed. There is a lot of poverty in the country outside of the resort areas, but to be a tourist in Jamaica means more people have jobs and to buy handmade wares means someone will have a meal, so we always buy from the local people wherever we go.
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