How To Grow Green Tea in Your Garden

Posted by Matthew Papaconstantinou
August 19th, 2009
Filed in Fruits, Veggies and Herbs
Tags: healthy living, tea

Nature’s Fat-Burning Herb

When you buy tea in the store, you can’t be completely sure of the quality of its production and packaging. Was it grown fully organically? How far was it shipped before it arrived at your local store? Packaging waste is another concern for the eco-conscious tea-drinker. And let’s not forget the expense of buying tea at the store, an unnecessary expense in these strained economic times.

Growing your own tea is a rewarding project that can save you money, reduce waste and ensure that you’re getting the best organic tea. Even better, drinking the leaves of your very own green tea plant can help you to lose weight. Although growing your own tea takes some time and patience, it’s quite easy to do.

Growing Your Plant

You could grow a green tea plant from seeds if you really wanted to, but it would take several years. Why wait longer than necessary to get your tea? A much simpler solution is to buy a green tea tree (or a few cuttings from a green tea tree) from a nursery. While you’re there, pick up some organic fertilizer, mulch and sandy soil. Then, once you’ve got your tree planted, the only thing left is to wait. Depending on how old it is when you begin, your tea tree could take up to three years to be ready for plucking.

Harvesting Your Tea

Once your plant is ready, you can finally start harvesting your tea. If it helps to gauge when your tree is all grown up, you can look at photographs of matured tea trees. When you harvest, take the terminal three leaves, along with the terminal bud, and let them dry for a few hours. You should keep them in a dim place, away from direct sunlight.

Preparing Fresh Green Tea

Now that the leaves are dry, heat your oven to 250 degrees. Spread the leaves out on a baking sheet and dry them in the oven for about 10 minutes. You can also dry them on the stove-top by tossing them in a 500-degree skillet for about 15 minutes. Let the leaves cool, then place them in an airtight container. To help them last as long as possible, store the container of dried tea leaves in a cool, dark cupboard.

Green Tea for Weight Loss

Drinking your homegrown green tea can help you reach your weight-loss goals. In many reviews of weight loss diets, those programs that encourage dieters to consume green tea are considered best. Its chemical compounds, known as catechins, boost your metabolism and help you burn fat.

Your body requires a certain number of calories just to keep you alive. This is known as your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, and you’d burn these calories even if you sat still all day long. The catechins in green tea boost your BMR, so you burn more calories throughout the day.

Tea also affects your body’s ability to create and store fat. Fat cells are created from other cells, which are not able to store fat. Green tea prevents the body from creating and storing as much fat by preventing fat cells from developing. It could also affect your digestive system so that it doesn’t absorb as much of the fats you take in at mealtime.

Tea drinkers have been shown in studies to lose more fat than people who don’t drink tea. Long-term tea drinking can help you lose weight the safe and natural way. Your homegrown green tea is a truly natural and organic diet aid that will give you no unwanted effects.

Matt Papa is a medical researcher with a personal interest in organic foods and healthy eating. In his website he offers Medifast discount coupons, a weight loss program endorsed by medical doctors, and a Nutrisystem diet promotion discount.