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Dry Your Own Linden Tea from Trees in your Neighbourhood!




Walking through your neighborhood these days, you may catch a delicate, sweet scent in the air. It’s very likely the blooming flowers of the Linden trees. I’m fortunate to be in a neighborhood where quite a few of these trees are growing in front yards. Along with the tell-tale fragrance, you can recognize them by their dark green large leaves and lime green smaller leaves and flowers (giving them the name lime trees in the UK).

As long as I can remember, every time we walked by one of these trees in bloom, my mother would say “We used to make tea from these trees back home”. My usual response was “that’s neat” but this year I decided to try and do it myself. Linden tea has been used for centuries for their medicinal properties of soothing nerves and relieving anxiety. It is now used in many cold remedies and has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

In our area (plant hardiness zones 5-6) the Linden tree is in full bloom from mid-June to mid-July. Now’s the perfect time to collect the flowers to make your own tea. And it’s easier than you would think:

  1. pick the flowers from the trees- you can collect the flowers and the light green leaves together (it’s always nice to ask the homeowner first if you’ll collecting from someone else’s tree),
  2. lay them out on a parchment lined cookie sheet and let them dry for 4-5 days.
  3. store in a dry container.

To prepare, take a handful of the dried leaves and flowers and add to a 1L of water (will make about 4 cups of tea). Boil for 5 minutes and strain into a cup. The beautiful red-toned tea has such a smooth and rich taste. If you desire, you can sweeten with your favourite sweetener (e.g. honey, sugar, stevia, etc.).

You can also enjoy this tea cold. Try our Mint and Lemon Infused Linden Iced Tea. Enjoy!

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Lou Lou Girls

Monday 27th of July 2015

Oh my! This looks so fabulous! Pinned and tweeted. Please join us tonight at 7 pm, and party with us. I can't wait to see your new masterpieces or amazing classics! Lou Lou Girls

Jane and Sonja

Saturday 8th of August 2015

Thank you! Looking forward to the Lou Lou Girls Fab Party!

Carole West @ Garden Up Green

Tuesday 21st of July 2015

Great idea - I didn't realize. There are so many things at our finger tips that way to many times we over look. Thank you for this idea.

Jane and Sonja

Wednesday 22nd of July 2015

Thank you for stopping by Carole. It's funny, now that we've started blogging about sustainability and using what we have on hand, we see more and more resources and freely available foods around us! The messy mulberry tree at the cottage is now a source of fruit for our jams! We went looking for wild strawberries the other day, but I think the birds had eaten them all already:( .

Jane and Sonja

Wednesday 15th of July 2015

An update: A reader at Holly's Folley - A Garden raised the good point that "If you forage from your neighborhood, make sure that your municipality or neighbors don't spray herbicides or pesticides. That is the biggest issue with urban foraging - what might have been sprayed on the plants you are foraging from..."

In Ontario we've had a provincial pesticide and herbicide ban for a while- please check your own local bylaws to make sure you wouldn't be consuming harmful chemicals.

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