"Tea...is a religion of the art of life." ~ Kakuzō Okakura

Knuckle-deep in dirt again and this time I'm trying to tame my wonderfull pungent but entirely unruly profusion of mint. Most of the leaves are drying in the sun until home time when I'll finish them in the oven then hey presto, AllotMint Tea. Unfortunately I have little cupboard space for anything else, especially more teas no matter how envigorating the brew might be. Next to it are the passion flower leaves that were forgotten in my pocket so missed out on this morning's early oven drying session. They were trimmed from another wildly spreading swell of vegitation, though this time in my parent's garden. In an attempt to maximise utility I'd like most if not all of what grows at Mentallot to have nutritional and/or medicinal properties, so smuggling some back home was part of my test to see whether the relaxing and stress-relieving properties of tea made from its leaves warrant its replacement of the knot weed up the side of my fruit frame. It does!

For years I have had a particular connection to the peculiar beauty of the passion flower, in no small part because the only thing I can say in German beyond 'please' and 'thank you' (taught to me by an old circus flame) is " Du bist der hellste Stern in meinem Himmel und ich liebe dich meine kleine Passionsblume". I would never have guessed I'd be looking for the perfect sunny sheltered spot for cultivating the evergreen climber.

#tea #mint #passionflower #allotment #KakuzōOkakura