While in the Charleston area last weekend, we also visited the nearby Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island, which has been on my to-do list for ages. We made it in time for one of the last trolley ride/tours on Saturday. Little Dana got boisterous and very vocal toward the end of the tour, and I plugged him up with his favorite chew toy, my cellphone. So if you don't get any return texts from me, that's why! I learned so much about tea (Camellia sinesis) at the gardens. I had no idea what a sustainable and unique plant tea is! Once planted, the land never has to be tilled. The tea shrub can produce delicious tea leaves for 600 years. Tea doesn't require pesticides or herbicides, and because of the way it is harvested, most of the weeding is done by hand. I got the impression that only the new plants required much irrigation. I was fascinated by the place and would love to return for a flushing or when the plants are in bloom. The only tea grown in America is right down the road in Charleston.

Here are the boys on the trolley. Note that Little D. is wearing his feather romper. We have been getting lots of good use out of it, but next time I will definitely use the snap tape for easy access during diaper changes.




Hedgerows of Camellia sinesis.The nearest tea plantations are far, far away. The tour guide said that tea is not grown elsewhere in the US because it's not cost-effective, not because the climate is not right. It blows my mind that we can import a product, prepared by a thousand hands, from around the globe for cheaper than we can harvest it right here at home. A close-up in the propagation hut.
Tea is related to Camellia japonica and Camellia sasanqua, which Southerners are used to seeing growing down here. There is a tiny bloom on the plant... In a few weeks, the fields will be covered. I would love to go back and see this. Wouldn't you love to have honey made from the nectar of tea blossoms? Does this exist? If so, I need some. Here is the plantation's custom-made tea harvester... and my cute little boy and his grandmother. This machine does the work of five hundred men.







Little Dana helped host a tea party picnic for his cousins after school one day last week. It was pretty muggy before a thunderstorm, but everyone enjoyed several cups of tea... The menu included edamame, blueberry snacking cake, and little mock-chicken salad sandwiches.