Natural Family Blog Archive 🌹 The First 20 Years

A few weeks ago, I did a major harvest of my herb garden. I dried the herbs and made Red Raspberry Leaf Tea. Yesterday I went out again to see what sort of growth took place over the past few weeks and was surprised to see that many of the herbs had come back strong, especially peppermint and red raspberry, so I did a second harvest. It is supposed to freeze for the first time this week, and that is always the best time to gather in the herbs.

Jenny Cutting raspberry leaves for Tea. I cut the tips about two to three feet off the end of the branch.

If you look closely you can see the place where I cut a few weeks ago, and the new growth that has happened since. These new leaves are ideal for tea.

You should bunch the raspberries together and hang them upside down for the most nutrients in the leaves.

It is great to have a good tea pot in which to steep the herbs. I also use a little mesh basket that allows me to use dried leaves that are home grown.

This bag was put together after my first harvest

This tea basket has a spring action on the handles which makes it very user friendly.

Just fill the basket with leaves

Pour boiling water over the leaves

Or pour boiling water right into a large tea mug
After the herb is finished drying in the upsidedown position, just put on a pair of sturdy gloves and gently ease the leaves off the stalks into a bowl. Then I gently crush them with the gloves on. I keep the leaves in a ziploc bag until I use them in my teas and in my soup stocks.
Here are some great links about the amazing raspberry leaf! Go Here and Here
I believe it is the most important herb for mothers!
Jenny Hatch