Grow your own good cuppa tea

I trekked over to Colorfield Farms recently for Anne Pigeon's annual Spring Festival.

When I arrived, its mega acres were ablaze with pink, white, peach, rose, red, and purple blossoms of spirea, diamond frost and native viburnum - to name a few.

Perfect weather lured quite a number of green thumbs to the festival, not only to peruse plants but to sit in on gardening demonstrations held throughout the day.

Tea Thyme with Ruth Davies beckoned me. Ruth's father was Welsh and rather fickle about his tea, instilling in his children early on how to make a proper "cuppa tea."

Our class was taught under the canopy of a giant live oak draped in gray tendrils of Spanish moss, a lovely and rather picturesque setting.

For several years, I've grown lemongrass and infused it into tea. I can go through about three ice-cold glasses of it a day during the summer.

Other garden herbs such as lemon verbena, catnip or lavender are great for steeping with tea, and another herb called stevia is a healthy way to sweeten it. If you're going to use stevia leaves in place of sugar, add just one per cup, bruising the leaf with the back of a spoon to release oils. When using herb leaves in tea, use at least three leaves per teacup. With lemongrass for tea, I usually use one blade.

For iced tea, make a pot strong so that when it's poured over ice, it's not diluted. If loose tea or leaves are used, use a tea strainer. A coffee filter will also do the job.

Speaking of herbs, if there are two ingredients that sing of spring, they are fresh pesto and peas. I've included a super-easy, super-fast recipe for them this week.

PESTO PEAS

1 (10-ounce) package frozen baby peas
1/3 cup basil pesto, store-bought or freshly prepared
Salt and pepper to taste. Prepare peas as directed on package. When done, drain them and combine with pesto, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-5

TO MAKE FRESH PESTO
6 garlic cloves
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed, washed, dried and stemmed
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

With food processor or blender motor running, drop garlic into working bowl. Process it until finely chopped, scraping down sides as needed. Add the basil and process until smooth. Add pine nuts and cheese, and then process until smooth. With motor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Take a spatula and scrape the pesto into a container, cover and refrigerate or freeze until needed.

Makes one cup.